


Treize B-Sides

by tzigane, Zaganthi (Caffiends)



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Colonialism, Colonization, Companions, Consent Issues, Dubious Consent, Enthusiastic Consent, Exhaustion, Gender Dysphoria, Gender Issues, Gender Roles, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Knotting, Loss, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Verse, Ownership, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Sexual Slavery, Surprise Sex, Treize did not enjoy being an omega at all, gundams are shitty two seaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 61,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28442337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tzigane/pseuds/tzigane, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffiends/pseuds/Zaganthi
Summary: The young man was dressed very cleanly, almost plainly, and that was interesting. So was the faint flush of his cheeks. "I am Wufei." And quite obviously one of the Companions, old enough and aware enough of the world around them that he was allowed to travel to the library on his own.That was rather nice. "I'm Treize," he said as he followed him into the building at a polite distance. "What're you reading?"The way that chin tipped up in challenge was utterly delightful."Gender and Society: The Subversion of Identity Regarding Secondary Genderby Bakugou Katsuki. Among others."
Relationships: Chang Wufei/Treize Khushrenada
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. The Alpha

**Author's Note:**

> We've spent the pandemic working our way through tropes, trying each one out on the characters differently. This is a fussing of Alpha, Omega, Beta, and role reversal, mashed up with some trashy excuse for porn and romance novel-style 'I just met you and now I have to love you?' universes of questionable consent.

The Brussels City Finishing School for Companions was, Treize Khushrenada thought, rather a lovely building. It was white marble, five stories in all. He had never been, of course, but like every young Benefactor, he was well aware of what he would find inside -- six to ten young Companions of appropriate age who were just beginning Finishing School after having been brought up in a creche where they received standard schooling and the beginning of the sort of training all Companions needed regardless of how or when they were Chosen.

Thank god everything had moved on from the standard procedures of centuries past. He couldn't imagine standing amongst a large group of Benefactors and choosing a four year old Companion and then guiding their education until it was time for Homecoming. Thank god, too, that they'd ended some of the more barbaric practices associated with that.

Society as a whole had gotten better, though... well, there were people who didn't approve. There were people who thought they were insane, and that they were outdated, and perhaps they were. He had already tried to pass on as many responsibilities as possible, but it hadn't taken. Unfortunately. All of which led him here to make his Choice and receive his due.

God knows he'd already spent nearly a decade in pursuit of his duties as a Benefactor. He might as well.

The thing was, he didn't know what he wanted, and choosing was such an awkward thing. How could one know a person and know they were going to be a good long term fit? He had no good role model, really. Dorothy's mother had died in childbirth, and it wasn't as if his own mother had been a Companion _or_ a role model. Rather the opposite of, actually, and so he stood there frowning at the building, deep in thought.

"Monsieur, you are blocking the way into the building." That tart statement startled him out of thought and he turned, looking at the slim young man standing beside him.

He was quite beautiful, truth be told; skin a warm shade of brown with delicate black eyebrows to match the dark hair that was pulled back in a sort of braid that he remembered Dorothy trying to style hers in just last month and cursing roundly when it didn't work. His eyes were a stony dark grey, almond shaped, and his mouth was pursed in something like disapproval.

Treize was immediately charmed.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little lost," he smiled at the young man, stepping out of the way. "Am I early or late for the choosing?"

Ah, the narrowing of that gaze was delightful. "Early. Please, come in." There were books in his arms, a number of them, in fact, and Treize wondered how he had thought he might get in the door with all of them. "I'm sure Madame du Maurier is expecting you."

"I'm sure she is. You are....?" He opened the door for the young man, smiling at him. He'd dressed in a good morning suit, because there were expectations and things to project that came with being a Benefactor. There were standards to uphold and one could never go wrong with a three piece suit. The young man was dressed very cleanly, almost plainly, and that was interesting.

So was the faint flush of his cheeks. "I am Wufei." And quite obviously one of the Companions, old enough and aware enough of the world around them that he was allowed to travel to the library on his own.

That was rather nice. "I'm Treize," he said as he followed him into the building at a polite distance. "What're you reading?"

The way that chin tipped up in challenge was utterly delightful. _"Gender and Society: The Subversion of Identity Regarding Secondary Gender_ by Bakugou Katsuki. Among others."

Well, well.

He could hardly keep the smile off his face as he lingered with the young man in the gorgeous entryway space with its spiraling stairs and vaulted ceiling some floors above. "Always important to be well read on topics close to your heart. Wasn't that the book with the subtitle that almost got it banned?"

Was that a dimple? Treize wasn't sure. _"How to Tell Alphas To Go Fuck Themselves?"_ He had lovely white teeth when he grinned. "Yes. That one."

"Wufei." The sound of that voice wiped the smile off of his face, eyes going wide with horror. "If you please. Go to your room and ready yourself."

"It was lovely meeting you." He was very glad to have arrived early, and turned, hands tucked behind his back at ease, to find the Madam of the house looking... very intimidating. Guttingly so. She was so crisp at the edges that it almost made a person wary to shake hands for fear one of hers might hold a dagger.

"And you must be Colonel Treize Khushrenada," she murmured, eyes still on Wufei as he held his books close to his chest and went up the stairs. "You're a bit early."

"Time zones. I just came down from L1, and I don't quite know if I'm coming or going. I hope I'm not too early." He followed her gaze, and what a lovely ass to watch go up all those spiral stairs.

Madame du Maurier obviously saw his interest. "Only a bit. If you wouldn't mind accompanying me to the drawing room, Colonel, we can begin."

"Of course." He had read up on how things should go in that vague sort of way one did when one had never expected to live that long. Treize followed her, taking in the decor, finding it familiar and relaxing. Homey. Lived in, which was odd considering the marble and wrought iron that seemed to be the standard of the place.

She indicated the settee and then rang for tea before seating herself across from him. "You are, of course, prepared to make your Choice and spend the afternoon deciding precisely how you would like your Companion educated. Monsieur Red Gloria and the Honorable Mr. Ramses Emerson will also arrive later so that you can be sure that your wishes have been imparted to all of us appropriately." 

"Of course. I'm quite ready." He didn't plan to dither on for years like some people did, no, he was going to be done and done with it, because there was no point in turning it into some terrible romance novel of perfection seeking. Better, he thought, to choose someone who could be a true partner and who wouldn't be afraid to stand up to him.

Please god, let there be someone who wouldn't be afraid to stand up to him.

"That's excellent." She crossed her legs and reached to open a drawer in one of the end tables, pulling out a book and handing it to him. "These are the options you'll have for educational opportunities as well as musical and deportment classes. There are, of course, pursuits of a more physical variety. They require extra funds because we will contract with someone appropriate to come and teach your Companion so that everything will be provided to the best of our abilities."

He accepted the book, though his mind wandered a little as he turned the idea over in his head. "Shouldn't I choose first? It isn't as if everyone can be perfectly interchangeable puzzle pieces."

She looked at him, and god, but that woman might be able to freeze someone down to their toes in mid-summer. He wondered if she might be related to Lady Une. "It is better to familiarize oneself with what is available so as to give yourself better understanding when you choose."

He supposed that was what he got for being early. He didn't sigh, but it was a close thing. Instead, he opened the book to begin leafing through it. There were a wide range of choices for classes, standard, and advanced mathematics, some engineering, household, real estate, that one was probably useful, hmn, ballroom dancing, yes, politics and diplomacy, ah, fencing and horseback riding were musts. Perhaps looking through it hadn't been entirely ill-advised.

When tea came, it was brought by a plump young woman with an easy smile who immediately placed the set upon the coffee table close to Madame du Maurier before taking herself off again without saying a word.

"Milk or lemon?" The teapot was old, marked with a simple pattern that was elegant and subdued. 

"Neither, but thank you. Just tea." He flipped back and forth between pages, and tried to imagine what the young man who had met him accidentally at the door would enjoy. He seemed bookish but rather robust, and Treize sincerely hoped that he was going to be one of the five or six available for Choosing.

"Of course." She poured and then handed him a delicate demitasse cup chased in silver and so fine that he felt preposterously large just touching it. He wondered if that was on purpose.

He would not have put it past them to purposely give that sort of reminder of place and location and propriety, to test his manners as much as he was judging and weighing what was going on around him. He sipped at it, still leafing back and forth between the pages. "I would like to make sure he has a full education."

When her eyes met his, it was obvious that she knew precisely who he meant. "You haven't met any of the candidates yet. How do you know one of them won't be more to your liking?"

"Do you have others who're more likely to push back?" He asked her that honestly and perhaps a little bluntly.

Her lashes lowered, and that smile was both terrifying and pleased. "They all will be before they leave, I assure you. One of the most important parts of being a partner isn't to be pleasing just for the sake of pleasing someone. It's being able to be an adequate helpmeet when needed. Wouldn't you say?"

"Ideally." He sipped again at his tea. "I think perhaps I will aim a little lower and just start with 'willing to argue'."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement and raised her own tea to her lips. "As you like, Colonel."

He did like, and he flipped back and forth, marking a page here and a page there for his own interest. "Fencing and horseback riding will be a must. You offer a wide selection of courses..."

"We hire the necessary tutors for courses which cannot be taught in house. For example, engineering and mechanics will be an off-site course for obvious reasons. Our Companions are accompanied to their off-site classes, naturally." She gave him a smile. "The library is only at the end of the street, so they're allowed to go on their own." The way was probably littered with surveillance, too, at a guess.

It was so strange, on the one hand, keeping them so sheltered. On the other hand, protection from the world was part of what the money ploughed into the system got them. People who were, ideally, safe from the ongoing horrors of reality, some of which he was personally responsible for. "Do you mind if I ask an impertinent question?"

One brow rose. "I suppose it depends upon precisely how impertinent the question is."

It was possibly tasteless enough to get him thrown out, but he was a practical man, and he'd seen enough of everything in the world already. Too much of everything. "How do you suppress their heats?"

"Medical intervention," Madame du Maurier informed. "It's overall much safer for the finishing school, on the whole. Less likely to be invaded by marauding Alphas who pass by on the street, no matter how well sealed one has managed to make the rooms for that purpose."

He nodded to that, glancing down at the book again. "Am I the only one coming today?"

"We've found that it's easier without the additional posturing one might endure if only one of you is here at a time." Which was probably true. Treize didn't indulge in a great deal of Alpha posturing; it was annoying to him.

It still made him smile a little as he closed the book and looked at her, firmly meeting her eyes. "I try to not do that. It's very annoying. I have enough of the enlisted scuffling every day."

"I had thought you might." He rather liked Madame du Maurier. Treize had heard that the Brussels Finishing School for Companions had some rather strange ideas about what made a Companion worthwhile.

Clearly he had made a good choice.

He tapped the book lightly on his knee. "When do we begin?" It was now 1400 on the dot, and he didn't think he had arrived several hours earlier than he was expected.

She lifted her cup to her lips and took another sip. "You may enter," she called, and the drawing room archway was shortly filled with six Companions, all utterly beautiful in very different ways. They would, by custom, all be approximately fifteen years of age, fresh out of the more elementary schooling and prepared for higher education and to be Chosen.

Treize wondered if all of them were as unique as Wufei, who was standing second in line, wearing ice blue and silver brocade with a matching waistcoat and a pair of trousers that clasped every inch of him delightfully. Two other young men were in the lineup, and their dress was similar although in varying colors and slightly different styles. There were also three young ladies in Empire waisted dresses with fans, but honestly.

They needn't have bothered coming down to see him at all.

"I'm afraid I'm not at all interested in women," he confessed, smiling pleasantly at them. "Though you do look wonderful in your dresses, and I am sure you'll find someone suitable." He was going to narrow through them all very quickly, but would at least not do them the dishonor of completely dismissing them out of hand.

All three of them curtsied, their motion in sync, heads bowed, and they walked away quietly. He wondered how often they had practiced that, to be able to do it so easily. He was clearly being allowed to run this without further instruction from the headmistress, and that was an interesting sort of test in and of itself. He looked at the brown haired young man, and the blond, and then again to Wufei, with his dark grey eyes and imperious expression. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. My name is Treize. Would you care to introduce yourselves?"

Upon being given the nod from Madame du Maurier, the blond stepped forward. "I'm Darius, Monsieur." His accent was tinged with a faint hint of British, so he was almost certainly that he had been in the creche in the British Isles.

When he stepped back, the one with brown hair stepped forward. He was pale with a number of flat moles that made for a unique loveliness that Treize couldn't deny. "Mieczysław, but no one can say it, so everyone calls me Mischief." And he probably was full of it, at a guess, but he tossed Treize a grin, and then stepped back into line.

Wufei stepped forward then, one brow raised. "We met at the door, Monsieur. I hope you haven't forgotten my name that quickly."

"Not at all, but I enjoy the sound of your voice." He smiled at him, trying to think of what to ask. He had decided after he left the spaceport and got on the train that he would simply play it by ear and there he was. "How do each of you feel about the war with the colonies?"

Well, that certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons, because all three of them had this look that said he was going to regret asking that question.

Fifteen minutes later, all three of them were arguing vehemently against the war with the occasional nudge from Madame du Maurier to help the cogency of their argument. They all had excellent points, in fact, and Treize was honestly delighted to see their passion and interest in the subject. They had very firm opinions, no wilting acquiescent lilies in this bunch. His hopes for the place had clearly been surpassed.

It was hard not to grin as they went on, and he leaned forward slightly, placing his elbows on his knees. "Excellent. Very excellent. Now, what would you do if you met one of the soldiers persecuting the war with the colonies and enforcing the blockade?"

Ah, now that was interesting. Darius thought flirting his way through the situation might work, and Mieczyslaw implied that there were many uses for a baseball bat. Wufei, on the other hand, shrugged and said that he would act as though he belonged precisely where he was and try walking past the man to see what would happen.

That made him smile a little more, fascinated and pleased. "And if your Benefactor turned out to be one of those soldiers." Which was likely to be possible, though he didn't think many of them would come to Brussels.

That seemed to fluster Darius a bit, and he frowned, mouth pouty and displeased. "Well, the chances are quite high that he will be," he pointed out, "but there are certainly ways to bring someone around to my way of thinking."

Mischief glanced to the side. "I still think a baseball bat would be of use."

When Treize's eyes fell on Wufei, he shrugged. "That would depend very much on his rank and aims, I should think. It's unlikely he would be a common soldier _and_ a Benefactor. Presumably he would have some rank, and some input into circumstances. Argument and seduction have their place, but perhaps it's better to come to agreement on what we believe."

Bedelia sighed, a slight, tight sound, and Treize looked over at her because no, he hadn't been subtle. "I think, Mischief, that you will absolutely delight someone, but I don't need to wonder when the baseball bat is coming at my head. You can go."

"It was nice to meet you," Mischief offered, and his mouth spread in a wide grin as he bowed. Treize didn't miss the glance at Wufei from the corner of his eye.

"So, quite seriously -- I have some rank, and very little ambition. I just came down from L1, where we put down an insurrection at the Capital. The colonists have another view of what happened, of course, and would like to self govern. This is going to be a continual factor in my life."

It would seem that the lack of ambition bothered the blond, because he had frowned when that had taken hold as a thought. Wufei, on the other hand, tilted his head to the side. "You're a colonel. That doesn't seem to imply lack of ambition."

"I'm very good at what I do. I'm a mech pilot." He flashed a smile at Wufei, watching his face with intense interest. "There is a beauty in battle."

Ah, he did like that flash of eye, the way that Wufei's interest seemed to catch fire at that. There was no question of which Companion he would choose; he'd only been trying to draw it out to be sure none of the others felt slighted. "Do you work on them also?"

"Yes. I maintain my own, and I design them." He wondered what that changed for Wufei, as if that made it acceptable somehow that he maintained his own weapons of war.

Darius made a face that as good as declared it lacked appeal. He, too, was sneaking glances at Wufei, although he seemed to say that he would never understand his opinion on this matter. "Maintenance sounds...." He trailed off and then shrugged.

"Perhaps not appealing?" Treize said politely, smiling at Darius. "But in space, a well maintained machine is all that stands between me and death in hard vacuum. It's very important."

Ahh, the way he paled made him almost translucent. "I shouldn't like to contemplate that."

Wufei shrugged. "Excellent point, though."

He turned his attention slightly more to Wufei, because that had settled it without argument for him. "How would you feel if I chose you, Wufei? Would you be amenable to that?"

Ah, that _had_ been a dimple, but only on the one side. "So long as you have no objections to my reading habits."

The laugh Darius gave was delighted. "Yes, you do rather have interesting reading habits."

"Excellent. I have no objections at all to any books, Wufei."

"Then perhaps Darius can return to his room, and Wufei can join us for tea while we discuss educational expectations." Bedelia stood up to, he guessed, ring a bell that would summon those educational experts.

Treize sat back in his chair and smiled across the table, drawing a flush to Wufei's cheeks and a distinct expression of pleasure.

This was going to be much better than he had feared it might be.

* * *

The man had been appallingly attractive, appropriately funny, and utterly sure of himself.

Wufei rather thought that it was almost more than he could bear.

He had expected his Benefactor to be old and unattractive and staid, not... well. Bright and charming, and prone to writing letters that arrived in the _mail,_ which was quaint and interesting and just different enough to leave a bit of a flutter in Wufei's heart.

Mischief thought it was complete bullshit. Mischief thought a lot of things were complete bullshit, though, so that was all right. It didn't keep the butterflies out of his stomach whenever a letter came for him, which was honestly a little disgusting as things went. Wufei hated to think that he suffered from what he would have termed _the usual Omega bullshit._ That word was used with appalling frequency, he had to admit. But Wufei hadn't gotten a whiff of Alpha off the man; it was possible he used suppressants, or he simply bathed with enough frequency that he didn't reek of himself. When Mischief's Benefactor had met with the girls and the two remaining young men, Mischief had reeked of it by proxy almost, just from sitting with the man, and it had clung unpleasantly to Wufei's nose.

So perhaps he wasn't falling for the usual Omega bullshit, but some other kind of bullshit.

Either way, the letters were the best part of his week. They came with predictable regularity, and they were quite informative. He was learning what Treize thought and how he felt about quite a few things, and found himself in agreement on a surprising number of them.

The letters left him giddy.

Treize might be a soldier, but he was a thoughtful person, and he enjoyed debating the merits of ideas and reality. He wanted Wufei to be a free entity, because no relationship where one person dictated the other's thoughts sounded like a very enjoyable one to him.

He was, in short, everything a sensible person would want in a Benefactor: young, kind, thoughtful, interesting, funny, ridiculously attractive, and well built. Just contemplating that had Wufei blushing and hiding his face in his hands at times because he was moderately appalled at having had the thought at all.

It was terribly exciting to think about because he was supposed to, eventually, sleep with his Benefactor, and the man was gorgeous. It had him thinking all sorts of thoughts that were, well, borderline improper. Or perhaps more than a bit borderline, because it was difficult not to despite the injections they received to keep things under control, Wufei still got unbearably interested around the time that his heat was due. That wasn't anything but true, and Madame du Maurier was the one in charge of their education on that point. She had been remarkably forthright and, ah. Forward-thinking on the matter.

 _"Other schools,"_ she had said, _"prefer that you go to your joining ignorant and innocent of all possible knowledge. At this school, we prefer that you go to it with appropriate expectations. Forewarned is forearmed."_

Which seemed to him to be a very sensible way of going about things.

Except he was on the suppressants and he still felt flustered and excited by the general descriptions of what happened when an Alpha and an Omega paired off. It made his brain wander off and abandon him when he needed to be able to focus on his coursework. And it was _years_ away for him, probably, because Treize wanted him well educated, which was what Wufei wanted, too, only....

Well.

"Stop moping over your Benefactor and help me concentrate," Mischief demanded. "You know I can't keep my mind on this, especially not with you smelling all horny and adoring over there."

He was only a little bit mortified. "Shut up and do your math." If it sounded a bit indulgent, who cared? They might as well be friends since they were here together for a while longer anyway.

He mocked Wufei, and leaned an elbow on his desk. "You're really buying into it. You're going to go home and have hot babies with him."

Yes. Yes, he was, and he made a face at Mischief. "Don't tell me you don't like your Benefactor. His stench was all over you when he was here and you clearly enjoyed it." He didn't send letters like Treize; he probably considered handwritten letters old fashioned or something.

Which they were, but it was so... so nice. "Yeah, and he wants to have tons of kids with me and run in the woods and he's _wild._ Like every crazy Alpha stereotype, except he's a banker, so I don't know. Math."

Tons of kids sounded daunting. More than daunting, actually, it sounded like a nightmare waiting to happen in Wufei's opinion. Treize didn't talk about having children, just did his best to get to know Wufei and that was more than sufficient to keep Wufei for now. He was pretty sure that the subtitle of the book he'd told Treize about was appropriate for any situation in which he was expected to bear anything like tons of children. Dear god. "Treize doesn't have that opinion, thank god."

"Yeah, not that he's said. But Benefactors are supposed to breed, even if he's got another family. It's the whole cycle." Mischief waved his pencil crankily in the air.

"As if there aren't enough politicians and soldiers," Wufei agreed, making a face. "It's an utterly old-fashioned idea. You'd think we'd have progressed past it at this point." He'd been looking into how his own culture would have dealt with Alphas and Omegas before it became standard operating procedure to snatch up Omegas and shove them into schools to be given away to Benefactors. He rather thought that it would have been nice to grow up in his own way, surrounded by family, courted by anyone with an interest and allowed to make his own choice from amongst them. Still, that wasn't the way things had been, and he had to accept that.

"Hmn, what's his family line?" Mischief spun his notebook around on the desk, and sighed. "Because some of the old Benefactor lines are crazy about that stuff."

"Khushrenada," Wufei reminded him, head tilted to the side as he looked at Mischief. "What's yours?"

"Hale." He pulled a face. "And thankfully there's lots of them but maybe that's because they really buy into the whole litter of kids shit." And then his face pulled a little more, and he got up. "Wait wait. Khushrenada. Not Catalonia?"

"Yes. Why?" Whatever the reason, it had obviously struck some jump in Mischief's logic. Those were sometimes extraordinary but were frequently spot on.

"Uh, dammit..." He went to his stack of newspapers in the study room, and brought it back to his work desk, rummaging back a few weeks. "Yeah, yeah, I knew I'd seen that face. I knew... here we go."

He spun it around, and offered it to Wufei, the first page from the world section up. "Romefeller Foundation representative Vingt Catalonia and brother at signing of new blockade enforcement laws on L4."

Wufei's lips pressed together in disapproval. "Well, he did warn that these sorts of things would occur as his Companion. I don't think he actually agrees with it at all, but agreeing with something and having no choice but to do it are very different things."

"Looks snazzy in his uniform there," he said, handing it over to Wufei. "Very fuckable. Very hot for a... dunno. Enforcement arm?"

Which was more or less accurate, all things told. "He does look good in blue." Darius had taken up knitting and was ridiculously good at it. Wufei wondered if he might talk him into knitting Treize a scarf in that color, or teaching him how. He wasn't sure he had the patience for it. "Show me yours."

"Peter?" Mischief left him with the newspaper, and he stepped back, smirking. "Hmn, I have two vanity shots of him just in case I somehow forgot... but they're in my room."

"Of course he had vanity photos taken." The fact that Mischief's Benefactor was utterly vain was rather funny, Wufei thought, but they'd wandered off of their necessary work and they ought to go back to it.

He didn't want to go back to work.

He wanted to read the article that went with the photo, and maybe find scissors and cut it out because he had no vanity photos. Just the memory of Treize in civilian dress, reasonably comfortable and obviously enjoying himself, and that didn't always feel like enough. He wondered if he could ask for a photo for himself or if that would be too forward. Or was it the sort of forward that one's Benefactor would appreciate? 

Mischief came back just as he was wielding the scissors. "Here, here's my smug bastard."

Ah, he did look very much like a smug bastard, in fact, and Wufei didn't bother keeping himself from laughing. "That's a fair description. He's attractive but he does look ever so pleased with himself."

"Oh he's hot shit and he knows it. Look at that arm flex," he gestured, tapping the photo. "Uhm, it's gonna be a long ass wait."

Yes. Yes, it was definitely going to be that, Wufei thought, and sighed. "Very long," he agreed. "Now sit down and do your math."

Mischief sighed dramatically and picked up his stack of work. "Why did it have to be math?"

"Because your Benefactor is a banker." It was obvious, but Wufei was looking at the picture he'd cut out, skimming the article, and possibly, maybe, definitely having fantasies that he should not admit to in polite society.

Wufei sincerely hoped he didn't have to worry about polite society anytime soon.

Mischief didn't count, so Wufei idled his way through his bit of historical reading, glancing at the article about his Benefactor's brother. Imagined his Benefactor, fantasized about being alone with him. Yes, being perfectly alone with him and then naked, though everyone started naked in the head mistresses's informative lessons.

And in the books Wufei sometimes read, well.

Naked seemed overwhelming a bit, but also deliciously naughty, and he could only imagine what it would be like when he finally finally _finally_ finished his education and was allowed to leave in his Benefactor's company. They wouldn't be naked in the car; the sheer impropriety was enough to embarrass him as a consideration, and his Benefactor was ever so lovely. He wouldn't want Wufei to be shamed in public, no, but he would be at least as impatient as Wufei himself was. Just thinking about it made him shiver with delight.

He had a whole detailed fantasy worked out in his head by the time Mischief had finished his math and was scowling at him. It was lovely and involved a big bed and the horniness he felt just then, times a hundred. He wondered what his dick would look like. They'd seen diagrams, of course, and it wasn't as if they were ignorant or anything, it was just that there did seem to be a large discrepancy between the looks of the things in Alphas. Wufei knew that all of them were fairly as expected for Omegas -- slim cocks of a reasonable size, pretty and definitely pleasurable. Just thinking about it made him want to squirm in reaction, but there was Mischief with a gleam in his eyes, so he didn't dare.

He would never hear the end of it. It was better than Darius, who seemed like he might very well have ratted Wufei out already, but with Mischief he knew he would hear about it every day until they went home.

"It's a damn good thing we have music class next."

Wufei blinked and began to flush. "Shut up," he demanded in a grumble. It wasn't his fault that thinking about Treize made him feel that way. He was... well, he was hot, and stupidly attractive in other ways.

He was so smart. He was smart and thoughtful and that was so attractive, just talking with Wufei. "Yeah, yeah. I promise to say nothing about hottie with the scary brother. The violin should take the heat down."

That was probably true. He'd have to think about the notes and the way he was holding the thing. He wasn't a prodigy by any means, but he wasn't bad at it, either. "You were doing math and I got sidetracked."

"You can afford to get sidetracked." He rolled his shoulders and closed his book, leaving it on the desk. "C'mon. History and math will wait."

And thinking about his Benefactor's cock, Wufei thought wryly, and began packing up his own things to take them with him. "But music won't."

* * *

A vase of flowers had exploded.

It seemed so simple, so very effective. It had completely rubbled his mother's hospital room, and someone had murdered the orderly that had carried the flowers into the building. The closed circuit cameras showed a young man had pulled the trigger to tidy up those loose ends, no older than Wufei.

He couldn't stop wavering between rage and deep, gutted misery, and there was so much work to be done.

So much everything to be done, and he was simply overwhelmed and overwrought, unable to do more than stare at his hands and lose time. Not because his mother was dead; he honestly had such a strange and difficult relationship with her, all things considered. No. That didn't bother him.

But Vingt.

Oh.

Vingt.

Vingt was better than him, Vingt was so so much better, he was brilliant, he was supposed to have had a long and wonderful life. Treize had done so much to try to make sure Vingt had every chance, to...

And it didn't matter. He was gone.

Gone, and he didn't know what to do about... well. About any of it. Get drunk, he supposed, and mourn in his own way. He should have been prepared for it, he thought. Maybe. Probably.

He had hoped Vingt would outlive him, and then he'd become responsible for Wufei, and so his hope had changed a little; he had hoped that they would both come out of the war clear and alive. Apparently it wasn't meant to be, and his brother had been assassinated, another politician tidied off.

His family had an ungodly problem with assassination. It seemed to be their favorite way to die, and Treize buried his face in his hands. At least Vingt hadn't yet made his Choice. He wasn't going to be responsible for another Companion.

He was fairly certain Wufei wouldn't have stood for it, in any case.

The wake had been a quiet thing, and he had ducked out as soon as it ended to go back to his hotel. That was the sort of misery sitting quietly in a hotel bar was for, picking through a bowl of over salted pommes frites, which Vingt had loved, drinking terrible well brandy that tasted of kirsch.

"Scotch, neat." Ah. Of course. His step-grandfather would naturally be there to make him feel even worse, which he could quite frankly do from nearly a mile away. He was a horrible person, and Treize disliked him almost as much as he disliked his stepfather, which was saying something. Treize was fairly sure that Satan himself would be ten places above the raging hatred he felt for both of them.

"Duke Catalonia." He raised his glass in a salute, and turned to look over at him. The world spun gently, which told him he was just the right level of drunk for burying his brother in the morning.

"Colonel,” the man responded, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "Shame about your brother." But not his mother, so at least someone had the good sense not to mention her to him. All things considered.

She would be buried in the morning, as well, and perhaps she had deserved better. Treize had tried, though he felt nothing but grim tightness in his chest. Perhaps it would catch up with him later. But Vingt... "Yes it is. What... What can I do for you, duke?"

"We'll be needing someone to take your brother's position, I suppose." And just what the hell was he supposed to do about that, he wondered.

"Ah? Am I the next out the chute before you line up Chilias and Dorothy for it?" It was funny that his name still meant something when it had been devalued so very precisely.

That color wasn't natural. Perhaps they'd all get lucky and he'd have pissed off the old bastard to the point where he would pop off and relieve them of his presence. "For now, you'll do."

"I wonder who hired the man with the flowers. Or the boy." He hunched his shoulders and drained his drink with determination because it really was mildly terrible.

"Barton, I'll be bound. We won't be able to prove it," Dermail grunted, lifting his own glass.

At least they could agree on that. "L3, colony of feigned compliance. Of course." And part of the tangled web that had snuffed out his own father. Only by suspicion of course, nothing that could be proven.

"You aren't Vingt, but you aren't useless," Dermail offered. "And you're motivated, all things considered."

"Hmn, am I?" He wanted to just disappear somewhere, but Vingt was dead and he didn't know what to do with that thought yet.

Dermail snorted and took another sip of his scotch. "You might not be if it were just your mother dead and gone, but no one can fault your affection for your brother."

That made him sigh, and it was the alcohol working on him. "He had such great plans in place."

Dermail snorted. "For all the damned good they're going to do him now." And perhaps that was agreement or maybe it wasn't. Treize had no idea.

Treize closed his eyes, and asked quietly, "What do you want me to do?"

The twist of that mouth when he opened his eyes was painfully obvious. "We can discuss it next week. When you're sober."

"I'm sober enough." And after the funeral he planned to be so drunk that he couldn't see straight, because it helped keep it numb.

"Next week," Dermail said again, and he was only doing it because he wanted Treize not to have what he wanted. The old man had always been like that. He was an asshole, and he suspected that Dermail and his actual grandfather had likewise conspired to make sure that his mother would never have anything she wanted.

Well they hadn't done that good a job at it. "Next week. I'm supposed to report back to my unit. Back on L1. We were moving to L2 to enforce."

That airy wave of hand implied that he was more than aware of it and that it didn't matter. "We have more important things to worry about. I'll take care of it."

"I'd like to rejoin my unit." He popped a fry into his mouth, and gestured for another shot of whatever that shit calling itself brandy was.

"When the time is right. For now, there are more important things to worry about." Like who was going to replace his brother and how, and Treize couldn't keep himself from grimacing.

"I didn't see Uncle Chilias at the wake. Will he be there tomorrow?" Vingt was always fond of him, and he, well, he was Dermail's oldest son. Their beloved general. It was a shame his mother hadn't been allowed to marry him, but Dorothy's mother was still alive at that time. God alone knew that Treize's life would have been significantly better.

"He's arriving later tonight. Dorothy insisted on coming." And Dermail was as likely to give in to her as anyone else in the family. She had most of them wrapped around her little finger. It was impressive.

"Good. Good. Vingt liked her, too." She was an amazing young woman, and he hoped she would continue to be for a long time. At least she wasn't out running the streets, murdering people in hospitals.

He reached for his drink and closed his eyes again before he took a swig.

Dermail finished off his scotch as they sat beside one another, silent and despising one another mere inches apart. It went about as Treize expected it to go, all things considered. "Good night," he bid finally, rising.

"Goodnight, sir." He was muzzy and tired and it was probably time to go up to his room. Treize finished his drink, and fished out cash to settle his tab. It was hard to remember the last time he had felt so very alone.

He made it up to his room and locked the door behind him, ready to settle in for the night. He stumbled through his toilette, brushing his teeth and changing into pajama bottoms and a t-shirt for once before he made his way to the chair in the corner with its small table. It took him a while, but he checked his line messages and fumbled his way through a couple of replies before he dug in his satchel to pull something out of it. What he found wasn't what he'd been looking for in the least, but it was a comfort -- one of Wufei's letters with its sharp letters and even hand. He should call Wufei. He could, he was allowed to call him every couple of months and he was always in some terrible time zone when he did. For once, he was in the same city and it wasn't that late. Not for someone Wufei's age. Surely he'd be awake if he called.

That was reasonable in his current state, but everything was reasonable in his current state. All the same, he flicked his way through screens and pressed the call button before he could think better of it.

Everything was very strange and strained, and he wanted just one voice that wasn't... adversarial. Just a few moments of connection, of human feeling. He couldn't go there, and Treize didn't think that, even if it were allowed, it would've been wise.

But the phone rang through.

 _"Brussels City Finishing School for Companions."_ The voice on the other hand was soprano with an accent Treize couldn't actually identify right offhand.

Nor did he really need to. "Colonel Khushrenada speaking. I'd like to talk with my Companion, Wufei."

The ruffling of papers sounded as whoever it was checked the roster to see when he had last called. _"One moment. I'll go fetch him."_

"Thank you." He set the pile of letters on the bedside table, having forgotten whatever it was he'd meant to pull out of his bag. It didn't matter. Very little mattered.

Long moments passed before he heard the sound of the phone being lifted again. _"Treize?"_ Wufei sounded hesitant for some reason. _"Are you all right?"_

"I'm fine. I'm on Earth for the funeral." He was completely drunk, and rubbed the heel of one hand against his temple because he was so tired. "Hello. I'm, I just wanted to talk to you."

 _"Oh."_ Something about that seemed relieved. _"I was worried that you might have been there. It's good to know that you weren't."_

"I was supposed to be there. I arrived about when the police did." He pulled his feet up onto the bed, and leaned against the ridiculous pile of pillows. "Exploding vase of flowers. There was a backup assassin on hand in case that hadn't worked."

 _"I'm so sorry."_ It was the only honest and earnest response anyone had given him as yet. He'd have laughed if it wouldn't have hurt Wufei's feelings. _"Truly."_

"Thank you. I..." Treize pulled his legs up, comfortable, closed his eyes. "We were close. I never imagined a world without Vingt in it. It didn't seem possible."

 _"Tell me about him."_ It wasn't an order, more like a request, but Treize did talk about him then. Long, some of the stories were ridiculous, particularly when he talked about some of the utterly preposterous things they had done as small children, including Vingt's habit of climbing trees and then not remembering how to get down from them. He had been a very academic child, but he had no fear of heights, and there were bird and squirrel nests in trees and he wanted to know. There was no better way to know than to be there face to face with the thing he wanted to learn about.

After an hour or so, he felt.... not better, perhaps, but stable again. He felt less alone in the world, and Wufei was responsible for that, telling him about fencing practice and how terrible he was with the violin and how they'd all started a martial arts course because Madame du Maurier felt they should be able to defend themselves.

He had turned out the light and was just there with the phone against his ear, enjoying Wufei's voice. "I look forward to having you kick my ass in a fight, then."

 _"I will."_ Because he wasn't afraid of Treize, and he didn't just naturally submit to everything he wanted. It was nice, Treize thought. He'd made a good choice, going to Brussels instead of Luxembourg. _"You should go to sleep. You sound tired."_

And the funeral was in the morning. "If they broadcast it, watch the funeral if you can. Consider it an early introduction to the family. Part of your broader education I've skimped on."

 _"Why does that sound like something horrible?"_ Wufei asked him. It was probably rhetorical.

Probably.

"Because it is. But you'll see my uncle Chilias and cousin Dorothy, who are both excellent people. They loved Vingt." The rest of the family, his stepfather, Treize didn't know about.

 _"If they broadcast it, I'll watch,"_ Wufei promised him, and it seemed so easy when it wasn't easy at all.

"I'm sure there'll be a simulcast from the colonies with parades in the streets." He closed his eyes, holding the phone close. "I think I'm next for it. Chilias won't accept it."

There was an audible pause on the line. _"Do you want it?"_

"No. But I won't have a choice." Chilias would pass on it until they had all been assassinated, because if it came to Dorothy... she needed to be protected from the grinder. At least for a few more years.

When it finally came, Wufei's voice sounded quiet. _"Oh."_

"Next time, I'll call earlier in the day so I can ask you to play violin on the phone," Treize said lightly, because oh. Romefeller Benefactor was an important role, unavoidable.

 _"All right."_ Even though it quite clearly wasn't all right. Nothing was all right, and Treize couldn't blame him for feeling that way, in all honesty. _"I wish you could call sooner, but."_

Yes.

But.

"It's always wonderful to hear your voice." And he had needed it. It had been worth the call. "You're just... wonderful."

He could almost hear how flustered that made Wufei over the phone. _"Oh. I. Oh."_ Yes, that was definitely embarrassment. They were both stupidly young, but that was the way their world worked. _"I hope things continue to go well for you. I'll worry."_ Yes, well. They would all worry.

"I know. You shouldn't." He had the amused thought that he was going to be easier to track if it were true. "I love you."

Wufei's breath caught. Had either of them said it before that moment? _"Yes,"_ he breathed out, and his voice alone was enough to make Treize shiver and think of things that couldn't happen for at least another two to three years. _"Yes. I love you, too."_

"I won't do anything too risky. I need to be able to bring you home." He was going to remember Wufei's voice in that moment. "I should let you sleep."

 _"Yes. It's late."_ Ah, but his reluctance was clear. _"Goodnight, Treize."_

"Goodnight, Wufei. Please don't worry too much." Another two or three years, that was something wonderful to look forward to.

He just had to live that long.

 _"I'm not sure how much is too much, but I'll try,"_ Wufei promised, and then the phone hung up, settling into the cradle with a click because old-fashioned was in right at the moment and that included technology in some places.

Treize slouched down and let his head rest against the pillow, half hugging his phone to him. He just had to keep being alive, and suddenly that felt so much more daunting a task than it had before.

He just had to keep being alive.

For Wufei's sake, if no one else's.

* * *

Darius had Run Away.

Wufei was, quite frankly, floored. There had been no indication that he was interested in doing such a thing, but there it was.

No one _ran away._ It simply wasn't done, and they were all chosen by very nice Benefactors of good stature. Well. Peter was sort of a narcissist, and Darius's one had been sort of old, but still.

It Wasn't Done, and now they were all going to be forbidden from going all sorts of places without supervision, and ugh. That was going to be horrible, utterly and completely awful. Wufei had enjoyed being at least a bit independent now and then, and no one had dared to make any sort of advances on him at any point. Well. That or he was utterly oblivious. Could be either one.

Did an advance count as an advance if it wasn't the way Treize's voice dropped on the phone sometimes? He didn't think it did. That voice just shivered its way down his spine.

Sam, the librarian that Darius had probably run away with from the way they had been flirting, had such an effect on him. Sam hadn't been an Alpha, though; Wufei could tell, not only from his behavior, but from the smell of him. Most people wore something to mitigate the telling scents because it was polite. It was equally polite to ignore it when someone wasn't, and Sam hadn't tended toward it. He'd smelled like ink and vanillin, which one would expect from a librarian, Wufei supposed, with a faint under tinge of mint. 

It made Wufei think of a beta, though Treize had no real scent; just a very faint suggestion, and that was what made Wufei think about suppressors. But Sam was a beta, and that was... interesting. Even Madame du Maurier said that they would need an Alpha when their heat came, but...

What if they didn't?

That was a fascinating thought, and he wished that Darius had left some way to contact him so that Wufei could ask. He wanted to know.

Surely, in this modern age, it was possible. Under researched, but very possible. There was no question Darius had thought about it, he was smart. Snarky, yes, and he had an impressive need to be thought well thought of, but smart.

There was no finding them, though. At least not for Wufei or anyone else at the school. He thought there would probably be advisories and warrants for their arrest, but he hoped Darius was smart enough to get away from all of that. He hoped they got far away and had a wonderful weird life together. 

But it left the Companions as the school a bit atwitter, the few new younger ones and the last of the previous group. Mischief had kept making eyebrows at him, and he didn't know what to do about that. Make eyebrows back at him?

They made it through their day, though, and that was something. More than something, in fact, because there had been too much excitement and half of their classes had ended up canceled while they tried to figure out where Darius was.

By the time he made it to the study room where he usually met with Mischief, he plopped himself down on the floor and fell to lie on his back staring up at the tiled ceiling. "Dear god."

"Dude. If you or I pulled that shit, our Benefactors would hunt us to the ends of the Earth. And the colonies." Mischief plopped down into his favorite chair, hauling his pile of books onto his lap.

"Mine would assume someone kidnapped me." And he wouldn't be wrong about that, actually. Wufei wouldn't leave willingly. "But Darius's was quite a lot older than mine." Henry Potts was one of the Alliance generals stationed in Sanc. He wasn't unattractive, just... old.

He hadn't wanted to pause his military career, so had decided to choose late in life, after that particular rocket ship had stalled out, and there was Darius. Who clearly didn't want anything to do with him. "Well, yeah. But still. Does he know you're all in, or?"

"He'd have to be blind, deaf, and mute to miss it," Wufei advised, voice as dry as the Sahara. "Yours?"

Mischief squirmed down more in his chair. "He's an asshole. A complete asshole. And crazy. I'm kind of excited."

"You're twisted," Wufei advised, and then turned his head to look up at him. "Are you due or something? You keep..." He waved a hand at him.

"Yeah. Like the suppressors, I don't think they get it all. I want to go home now now now, and I'm not going anywhere for like. Another eighteen months." He exhaled and puffed out his cheeks when he did so.

He definitely understood that. "I thought it was just me." It was the worst when Treize called during that time because just sitting through the phone call was torture. He could hear his voice, and just oh. And he was always... somewhere. In a hotel or a barracks somewhere, he was very good about calling, and Wufei imagined what it would be like to be in the room with him at the same time.

Mischief had once suggested that years of unrequited _want_ slung Companion-Benefactor relationships into a long honeymoon period, and that was what kept the whole mess going long enough for everyone to reproduce appropriately. Wufei understood that want.

Not in a way that made him want to run away. "Not just you. I hate it, too. Can't we just be horny like normal people get horny? Nah, this shit is above and beyond."

Sitting up, Wufei shrugged. "Could be worse. Could be two hundred years ago." When they'd suffered Practicum, learning hands on sexy behavior without being allowed to have sex, or when they'd done really bizarre insertion rituals on the night of Homecoming. It was bad enough that they still did the branding.

His friend sighed and flipped through pages of his book. "I totally hate you. I wish we had make out sessions. Peter's a complete man whore, I'm sure of it. I'm not sure where yours finds the time to jack off, and I'm tired of seeing him in the news."

Wufei couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "I'm not tired of seeing him." Nor would he ever be, he thought. "I worry. That's the only good thing about all of it."

"I feel like I have to pay attention when yours makes the news in case you miss it. Cause he's yours." That seemed to spark something in his mind. "Huh."

"What?" Wufei asked, because who ever knew what might spark a thought with Mischief? He made funny connections sometimes.

"Hmn, this whole thing is posed as, damn, there's an author I'm thinking of. Who wrote the book on subverting it, and owning them back?" He was out of his chair.

He couldn't help the sheer expression of horror. "Not the one by, what was his name? The psychologist? Lecter, that was it." He'd read that when he was fourteen, snuck it out of the library. Not six months later, he'd ended up imprisoned for quite literally eating his Alpha.

"... okay, but he had some points in there. I am going to see if the library downstairs has one." He squirmed up out of his seat, and straightened his trousers. "I mean, I want to own Peter back."

Wufei wasn't going to think about it. If he thought about it, he would have to give up for the night and just go to his room and get nothing done but masturbation. "Well. Yes." Definitely yes, and damn Mischief, anyway.

"I'm going to use my omega mystique," Mischief smirked. "Yes. As suggested by a cannibal, sure, but there's a thing there."

"Go see if you can find it," Wufei finally told him, covering his face in his hands. That fucker. "We'll both look at it."

Mischief pumped a fist in the air, and ran out of the study. He was a good friend, a good partner in crime for all that he gave Wufei a lot of shit. Wufei just gave it back and it worked out pretty well, all things considered.

By the time Mischief made it back, Wufei had settled in his own preferred chair and spread out his homework because that would still have to be done, no matter what they got up to the rest of the evening. "That didn't take long."

"Weirdly, we have a copy." He tossed it lightly by the spine and caught it the same way. "I am not sure what that says about the headmistress."

"That she's terrifying?" He meant that suggestion in the most sincere and well-meant way. "Which is good for all of us."

"She is absolutely scary," he agreed, settling down with his copy of _Omega Mystique,_ no subtitle required. "Proceeds from the sale of this book now goes to a restitution fund for his victims, nice. Says so on the jacket."

It made him feel cynical, but all right. Maybe it really did go to his victims. Or maybe it didn't, who could say? Not Wufei, that was for sure. "I know I can't trust you to do your homework before you get into that, so you read now and I'll switch out with you when I'm done."

"So you're saying I need to read fast," Mischief smirked, settling in. "Right, I'll be quiet and let you get to it."

With a sharp nod, Wufei turned back to his work, detailing the parts of a hydraulic system meant for mobile suit chassis support. The sheer amount of jarring someone would undoubtedly receive made him ache a bit just thinking about it.

He wondered what sort of impact it had on a person long term, and how long Treize had been piloting one. He'd said he'd started when he was twelve, and that was... already a full decade in machines that could move that fast and with that much force.

Wufei frowned, thoughtful. Clearly someone needed to come up with a much better form of support for it to lessen the jarring, because what he was studying was standard. No wonder the Alliance had so many child soldiers; anyone older probably had all sorts of problems cropping up after a decade in one of the things. And who knew what problems cropped up after a decade of being in them. Treize was still a frontline soldier, and that worried Wufei.

A lot of things worried Wufei. He had sounded tired and stressed on their last call, and had enjoyed Wufei playing music for him, even if everyone swore he was terrible at the violin. Treize didn't seem to care that he was terrible. He'd just hummed along to Paganini, soft and barely heard, and Wufei had played until he heard a snore on the other end of the line. He'd stopped playing then, and quietly murmured that he loved him. Another soft snore answered, and so he'd gently hung up the phone and requested to send a message to Treize so he wouldn't wake and be worried or upset that Wufei had finished their call while he was sleeping.

"Okay, this dude made a _lot_ of cannibal jokes for someone who didn't want to be caught."

And Mischief was trying to get a laugh out of him. Wufei allowed him a smile, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Perhaps he wanted to be caught. Subconsciously, I mean. Or perhaps he just thought he was funny."

"Maybe. It basically amounts to a handbook on how to lead your Alpha around by his dick." He flipped through a few pages, chortling to himself.

Wufei snorted. "I can't imagine that would go all that well with yours." His might let him, but the question was whether he wanted to or not.

"Nah, terrible horndog. I bet it'd work. Hmn, this was not the deep philosophical thing I was thinking it was going to be." He kept flipping back and forth, chewing on his bottom lip a little. "And maybe it's borderline porn."

Clearly not a good thing on a day that was already pretty high on the horny side of things. The problem with living hand in hand with Mischief was that they tended to be in sync on that, and the smell of him wasn't helping anything. That much was certain. "Do your homework before it gets worse." Because Wufei felt a little squirmy now, too.

And Darius had run away with a _beta_ , of all the scandalous things, and he kept just. Back of his mind wondering about that as he watched his friend sigh and set down the book before rummaging out his homework. "Right."

Right.

He wondered how Darius was going to get through his heat when it struck. He doubted anyone would have written a book on how that worked, or if they had then it was clearly an underground publication. Benefactors wouldn't want that information out and about, he was certain. And it took his mind completely out of his homework, even as he finished it by rote, because he was thinking about tongues, fingers, and cocks, and yeah. He wanted to go _home._ Damn Mischief anyway.

By the time they were both finished with homework, there was no hiding the fact that they were overly saturated with hormones. Not so much that it was suspicious, but more than they should be, and Wufei wrinkled his nose. "I'm going to take a bath." A long one.

"I'm going to go.... to the opposite end of the building and finish this book," Mischief declared, picking it up again. "There's some great descriptions of knotting. With cannibal jokes."

Not things Wufei would ever consider as going together, himself. "Right." The opposite end of the building wouldn't be far enough away, in Wufei's opinion, but it would have to do.

Maybe the bath water would help soothe him. Ugh.

The townhouse was huge, plenty of room for fifteen students and their teachers to rattle around with a sufficient amount of privacy and spaces to set up. His little suite had its own bathroom, which the headmistress considered a right. Perhaps she was rethinking some of those things in the wake of Darius's escape.

Wufei sighed. Well. If things were going to change, he might as well take advantage of what he had now and enjoy himself for the time being.

He was just about to go up the stairs when he heard the headmistress running halfway up the stairs. "Everyone into the bomb shelter! Now! Downstairs, now!"

That was startling, but there was a thread of an order in that voice, something Wufei hadn't ever heard her use. It was highly effective, though, because every student in the place was scrambling for the ground floor and the door that led to the bomb shelter below, frantic to get there as ordered. 

He could hear a couple of the older students hitting the door behind him, the ones who were up on the top floor, when he heard the first distant, Earthshaking booms. They settled in close; the space was old and a little dusty, but secure, he hoped. He didn't know how well it would take five stories of building collapsing on top of it if things came to it. The headmistress turned on a light and started to do a headcount.

There were more distant booms. "Holy fuck. Was that the airport?"

Wufei threaded his fingers into Mischief's. "Sounded like that direction," he agreed in a murmur. His heart was a heavy thud in his chest, rapid and desperate. The younger Companions were quite obviously terrified, one of the boys starting to leak tears in his fear, and Wufei frowned. He wanted to tell him not to cry, that it would be fine.

That was a promise he couldn't make.

The last student made it into the space, and the headmistress closed the door, sealing it, and activating the dim, warm lights in the space. "I'm not sure what's going on," the headmistress admitted, her back to them as she dialed up a datastream from the old wall monitor.

It flickered into light, flat and dim, a few streaks where the pixels had gone on it showing pink and purple instead of any reasonable color. She flicked across several different streams that seemed to be frozen or otherwise not working before finally settling on one that was updating regularly.

Not that anyone reporting on the stream seemed to know what was going on. There were reports of Gundams launching from the colonies a couple of weeks before, of attacks on military facilities, of the slaughter of a gathering of generals who were negotiating a peace with the invading colonies. Mostly they seemed focused on the disabling attacks on runways, on Alliance stronghold facilities.

What the hell even was a Gundam?

It turned out to be a mobile suit made out of gundanium, and Wufei had a difficult time remembering how that was made. It had to be made in space, he remembered, and he had to think about that and not about where Treize was.

Oh, god.

Where was he?

He remembered that Treize's uncle had died, crushed in a mech defending the lunar base the year before, and Treize had been promoted while juggling the diplomatic stuff. Did that mean he was in danger? They were all frontline people, which Wufei had thought was crazy, some weird misplaced sense of honor or Wufei didn't know. 

The airport was a loss, and there was a statement from the Alliance government seated in Brussels that they were surrendering.

Mischief's fingers squeezed his tightly. "But what about Bern?" Right. Right. His Benefactor was in Switzerland this week, or supposed to be.

"Maybe everything is fine there." The reassurance was hollow.

"Who are they even surrendering to?" That was a good question. There was another shatteringly loud, shaking boom this time, and they all went still and silent as if that would help, never mind how close that had to have been.

Someone muttered, "Oh god," and the lights flickered but didn't go out. The feed glitched and glitched, and then there was a camera shot of a room full of people, men, mostly older, and a few women, tiered seating. The picture was shoddy, but Wufei recognized the voice as soon as he heard it. "For years, the United Earth Sphere Alliance has overseen a tenuous peace. A peace punctuated by attacks and reprisals, with constant battles to maintain the boundaries of Earth and the colonies. This fake 'peace' cannot hold. The Organization of the Zodiac, backed by the Romefeller Foundation, is now in control of what was the Alliance. OZ will begin negotiations with surrendered parties immediately, as we work together to create a new foundation for our shared government."

"What's going on?" Mischief whispered the question, looking absolutely horror struck, but Wufei couldn't answer the question. He couldn't, not when his mind was spinning in circles. That was. That was familiar.

That was _familiar._

He'd heard about the Organization of the Zodiac, Treize had mentioned it; had mentioned ages ago that his uncle ran it. It was the, it was all the mechs in the Alliance. 

Holy shit.

Another voice cut in over the feed. "That was a statement issued by General Treize Khushrenada, Organization of the Zodiac. People around the world are reporting fighting at military bases and destruction at and near airports. The last statement from a UESA representative was last night's video from General Septem condemning the colonies for their actions. We'll, uh, we'll cut to our panel of experts after this break."

Treize.

Treize was alive enough because he'd made a statement.

When he let out a panting sigh, he shuddered so hard with the relief that he was nearly sick, beginning to shake. Fuck. Oh. Oh. Fuck.

He heard the headmistress muffle a sound behind her hand, the only time he'd ever heard her react, and Mischief gave a shuddering exhale. "Holy fuck. Holy fuck."

"It's okay," Wufei lied, and pulled his friend in close. "It will be okay."

Weirdly, that seemed to soothe some of the younger Companions; that or they were exhausted and afraid and could only maintain it for so long, he didn't know.

"Your Alpha _overthrew the fucking government,"_ Mischief hissed against his chest, rocking and clearly trying not to freak out.

"And he said he lacked ambition," Wufei whispered back, an edge of hysteria lacing the words. "If this is what he means by lack of ambition, I'm afraid to know what he would consider an excess thereof."

"Wow. Wow, fucking, wow." Mischief gave a half hysterical laugh as he tried to breathe slower, trying to calm himself. 

The headmistress stepped away from the still active data feed. "There's tea and snacks that we can make, and I think that might be a good idea right now."

And then perhaps a nap because he was afraid and he was exhausted and every part of him ached from how tense he'd been holding himself. Treize was alive or he wouldn't have made a statement.

And he'd taken over the Alliance.

What the hell.

What the fucking hell.

* * *

Everyone else's Benefactor had come to a luncheon in order to reassure them that their Companions were fine and that the school was still in working order.

Treize had been invited for his own separate visit, which either implied that he was being courted because he was currently head of Earth's major military installations or that the headmistress was afraid the other Benefactors might be upset by his presence and no one wanted to suffer through Alpha posturing on that level.

Wufei was fairly certain that it was the latter of the two.

There had been posturing at the luncheon, and from his position it had been ridiculous, everyone trying to establish that they were doing better in all of the upheaval than everyone else. 

This way no one had to witness what probably would have been a very short fist fight. Instead he was given a time to be ready, and was waiting in the sitting room when he heard the doorbell ring.

His heart seemed to chime with it when it did, and his head immediately jerked up because he was _here, here, here,_ and he'd wanted him so desperately when he suffered through a false heat after the attack. Several of them had, in fact. They'd been kept medicated and sedated, but even so, he could remember desperately wanting Treize to be there, if only to stroke his forehead.

Wufei knew it was ridiculous to think that was as far as it would go, knew there was a reason that the Headmistress had sent them to hospital as opposed to keeping them on premises. He still felt a little feverish with lingering want, but he had kept it under control, and now he was going to know for sure that Treize was safe and alive and okay.

He wanted to run to the door. He knew that was unacceptable, so it was a waiting game for them to come up to the sitting room. He sat and fiddled with the tea set until he heard footsteps and then sat up straight and proper, his brocade waistcoat feeling too confining, and when Treize appeared in the door it felt like pure electricity slamming into him and chasing over his skin.

Oh.

_Oh._

He was wearing a bright blue and white uniform, looking like someone had cut him out of a painting, and he seemed to have a reaction to Wufei as well, stopping for a moment with Bedelia behind him. He had the brightest smile suddenly. "Wufei. You look... gorgeous."

And he couldn't keep his mouth from curving up in a brilliant smile because yes. Yes, he was _here_ , and he was beautiful, and Wufei wanted to stand and fling himself at him, but he had better manners than that. "You're unbearably handsome. You look like something out of a classic painting."

"Ah, the uniform." He smiled so broadly that the edges of his eyes crinkled. Treize stepped forward, and reached to take Wufei's hands in a hello. "I'm sorry for any upset this has caused."

He rose, feeling quite as if he might be in a Jane Austen novel. It was probably the uniform. "Yes. Thank you. I was very worried about you." Worried and feeling the pull of him deep in the pit of his belly.

Fuck, he was beautiful.

He wanted to go home immediately, and he was almost old enough. Almost. Treize's smile was bright, and he tugged lightly at Wufei's hands to lean in for a hug and dammit, he could smell the man that close up. It made his balls ache, made his stomach twist. "I gave the school as much advance warning as I could manage."

Which had been just enough that the headmistress had managed to get them down into the bomb shelter. It was a surprise that the place even had one, truth be told.

"Now, if you would please serve tea." Her voice was sharp, cutting through the fuzz of want and need and making Treize take a step away from him. Wufei wanted to snarl and snap and sink his teeth into her, which was preposterous because she was an _Alpha,_ it wasn't as if she could have any real interest in his Benefactor.

But he was Wufei's, and he wanted to keep him there. He smelled like warmth and nothing too overt, which made him crazy because he knew Treize was an Alpha but it wasn't pouring off him and it didn't cling in the air the way the luncheon had. It was something subtle. Treize kept smiling, and sat down, sitting on the part of the sofa nearest Wufei's chair. "I hope it wasn't too distressing."

Once he seated himself, Treize caught his hand and turned it palm up, kissing the center of it, and Wufei's indrawn breath was unsteady. "I thought Mischief was going to have hysterics." He hadn't been far behind.

"And you?" He was looking steadily at Wufei when he asked it, an easy, intense look. "How were you?"

There was no hiding the flush in his face. "Close behind, but then they said that you'd sent out a message. That... helped."

"Yes, it was most unfortunate that half of the Omegas in his group went into a spontaneous false heat from the trauma, and the entire group who are six months away from Homecoming," Bedelia advised dryly.

There was a funny set to Treize's jaw for a moment, but he continued to hold onto Wufei's hand. "That was unfortunate, yes. But I couldn't be sure what would happen in this theatre of operations."

"It wasn't so bad," Wufei lied, and he couldn't take his eyes off of him. He was handsome and amusing and they had fallen in love through letters and occasional phone calls. How could he let him leave without taking Wufei with him?

"Tea." Bedelia's voice was laced with pure command, and Wufei pulled away to begin pouring.

Treize didn't bristle, just smiled and turned his attention to her, briefly. "If I pulled Wufei out of the school now..."

"He'll be safer here, particularly as you are now at war," Bedelia advised, seating herself across from him. "And as you well know, he won't be fully mature for another year and a half. Do you think you can resist that long?"

He watched a muscle twitch in Treize's thigh, because those pants were very well fitted. "No, perhaps that would be unwise. Given the danger."

And the fact that Wufei was pretty sure he'd crawl right into Treize's bed, fuck being fully mature. That just meant that he couldn't be safely bred and carry, which was a strange and disconcerting thought at the best of times.

Bedelia nodded and accepted the cup of tea Wufei offered her. "A good choice, Your Excellency."

He really wasn't thinking about being bred and carrying, and being... pregnant seemed terrible and strange. "Possibly one of the few I've made recently," he quipped.

Wufei served him a cup of tea and their fingers touched when he handed him the cup and saucer. It sent a thrill through him. "Unfortunately," he offered, dry and faintly amused.

"I want you safe." He took a sip of his tea, careful, the motion graceful. "Do you need more security, headmistress?"

She considered the matter. "Not at this time," she finally replied. "Although I may take advantage of that offer at a later time."

"Please let me know. Romefeller has a vested interest in supporting the Benefactor system." He took a sip of his tea, and looked sideways at Wufei, still smiling. "I don't want to generalize, but one of the pilots looks quite a bit like you, Wufei. A woman called Long Meiran."

Wufei's head tipped to the side. Something about that sounded vaguely familiar, although he wasn't sure why. "How odd. But... they are from the colonies, yes?" Wufei had never been to a colony. He was fairly certain that L5 had a Chinese population.

"L5. Apparently she was born on Earth. There were..." Treize tipped his head slightly. "Travesties committed."

The implication of that was heavy in a way that felt like he had swallowed a rock. "Travesties?" he asked quietly.

"There were villages that were subjugated by their government. Their omegas were taken from their families, and the villages themselves were forcibly moved to L5. I do not know what to call that other than a travesty." He met Wufei's gaze, unwavering.

...oh.

Wufei had read about things like that, but it had all been in the past. He hadn't considered the fact that it might be something that happened, much less something that had probably happened to him. He nodded slowly, because what else could he do?

"I wanted you to know this. It's information I've come across with greater access." His eyes flicked to the headmistress, and he seemed to decide not to say something just then. "I don't want to keep secrets from you."

"So I was stolen," Wufei clarified. "From another culture."

Bedelia leaned back in her chair. "Yes. The Alliance felt that they had the right to do so, and many of the schools have nothing to say about it. I've been following the events for some time. There's a reason you were chosen for this finishing school. I thought you should have the opportunity to make the absolute best of what had happened, even if you didn't know about it."

Treize set his teacup on his knee, perfectly balanced there as he sat with his legs crossed leisurely. "I'm attempting to see what paper trail there might be associated with you, but it will take time."

"Of course." But everything was spinning in his head and made no sense at all. He was stolen. He had been stolen. Wufei lifted his teacup and took a sip before mechanically choosing one of the small sandwiches from the tray and taking a bite. He paused. "That... won't change anything, will it? With us?" Because right at the moment, Treize was the one solid thing that didn't feel like it was going to reel out from under him.

"No. No, you're, I want to take you home, and show you my world." He was very firm-sounding when he said it; not a command, but a depth of conviction that Wufei _felt._ "But it didn't feel right to keep this from you."

And the world tilted right again.

He let out a shuddering breath and relaxed, as if the world had firmly anchored itself once more. "Oh. Oh. Thank you."

The man's eyebrows shot up, and he reached a hand over to grasp Wufei's again, moving teacups as necessary. "I'm absolutely not telling you this at all to push you away, I... simply thought it proper for you to know."

"Thank you," Wufei said again, because that was of the good. That felt much better, and he smiled at Treize because he wanted to and because it felt good to be reassured. It felt good to know he was wanted, that the reason he had been, oh god, the reason he had been stolen from somewhere and brought up for wasn't going to fall to the wayside, and he was going to eventually go home with his Benefactor, his Alpha, who had overthrown the government, who was the government for the world, and bear his children. 

His brain perhaps broke a little. It was understandable.

"Quite charming," Headmistress du Maurier advised. "Now sit back, both of you, and drink your tea."

And so Wufei did.

* * *

Some days, at the end of a long day, after meetings, and dinner (which was really meetings with food), and then more meetings, he just wanted to crawl into bed. And he somehow found himself at his desk, answering a few last emails, corresponding on those that couldn't be handled by an EA, giving feedback, and wondering how the fucking wheels hadn't come off the train yet.

He was exhausted and his step-grandfather wanted a meeting at an ungodly hour of the morning. He'd honestly have the man shot if he thought he could get away with it. He couldn't, but it did delight him a little to think about it as he set his alarm clock, and stood by his bed, wondering if he was even capable of sleeping.

It was all exhausting. At least he was sure that Wufei was safe now. That was something.

God, he'd wanted to bring him home immediately upon seeing him. He was... well. He was beautiful, and refined, and just a bit on the right side of feisty. Perhaps he should crawl in bed and think about that significantly. Yes that would help shut down his brain. He opened the bedside drawer, and pulled out the toy and lube. It wasn't shameful, it was just that he liked to keep discretion about himself. No one wanted to think about their leader masturbating, but if he didn't, he was going to go mad because there was no time to get laid, and he hadn't had the inclination since he'd last seen Wufei, in any case. He hadn't often had the urge after he'd chosen, to be perfectly honest about it. Once he'd met him, it had been... well. It just hadn't been the same.

"So you are some kind of pervert."

Because of course he was standing there in pajama pants with an erection, squeezing lube into a pocket omega, when someone had decided to push open the tall French doors and step into his bedroom. It was the pilot from L5. "You must be one, too. How long have you been watching me?"

"Long enough to know you're a pervert." Ah, but the pilot was standing there, sword in hand, chin notched upward. He looked a great deal like Wufei in the low light. A brother, perhaps? "I want a rematch."

It was too much for his brain in the moment, and he set the toy aside on the bedside stand, wiping his hands. "Are you trying to guarantee yourself a win?"

Slim shoulders shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with giving yourself an advantage."

"You're a ridiculous young person." He should have hit the security button, but he didn't. "What if I win again?"

"Then I come back until I do." It was said easily, but that face was hard.

He picked his sword up from where it was leaning against his desk and unsheathed it. "What is this giving you, pilot?"

"The satisfaction of making you suffer. If I could take everything away from you, I assure you, I would." And it was clear that 05 meant it to the absolute depths of -- his, her? -- their soul.

He exhaled, and took a ready position, waiting. "You underestimate what suffering has already occurred, but if it amuses you, pilot. So be it."

There was no warning; none whatsoever, just a sudden lunge forward, vicious and meant to destroy him if at all possible.

He parried hard, knocking the blade to the right, closer to him, but it kept him from opening up his body, gave him the swing to bring the flat quickly down against the pilot's back, hard enough to hurt but not cut.

The pilot hissed like a cat, turning quicker than he'd have thought, and the sharp of that blade just missed him. "You're just like them. You're a thief and a liar, you steal people away, you kill others! You deserve whatever you get."

"You were one of the pilots when your colony was attacked." He parried again, and again, waiting for another too rough too fast motion, being patient as the pilot's rage got the better of them.

"One, yes." Yes, and another motion, this time unexpected, nearly getting under his guard. "The only one left, you bastard."

"I'm sorry for your loss. You both fought well." Another near strike, and he jammed his sword close against the hilt, and flung the pilot's sword across the room.

"Fuck you!" Ah, that was angry, so angry. "He was mine, and your filthy pilots came at him. He wouldn't stay, he wouldn't keep from fighting!" Those were tears, sharp, and it made his brows pull together. "Fuck. You!"

He walked, sword still at the ready, and picked up the pilot's weapon from where it had hit and dug into the baseboard. "You lost a partner. That's worse, and I _am_ sorry. We did manage to stop the application of the biologics by the Alliance forces, for all the salve that is for you. I'm trying to create a world where that does not happen any longer."

"And that should make it better somehow?" Bitter. So bitter, but Alpha to Alpha, it was something he could understand. "They already affected us. Everyone is sterile, and we will all die. You and yours, you did that."

"Yes. Yes we did." He'd been young, but he had participated, he had been in it as much as the pilot across from him was. Treize kept his grip on both swords, watching them. "We can help. We can work with you, we can try to fix some of it."

That laugh definitely wasn't humorous. "Oh? You'll what. Find one of the omegas you stole and give them back?"

"That would be a re-violation for those omegas, taken again from their homes. No, there are ways to help support female Betas in space to carry to term, L4 has done excellent work on it. L1 has done excellent work on it." The less said about L2 or L3, the better.

The pilot's face twisted. "We want them back." Them, how many could they have stolen from a single clan?

"They're people, not books to be passed around at will." He didn't move closer, but he could smell the pilot's rage.

"I'll have them," he was assured, and perhaps he should put an end to this right now. He should call in the guards and have the pilot taken captive.

"Get out." He didn't, and he didn't know why. Or he did, he suspected, and later he called and had extra security move to the school, subtle, un-uniformed.

The last glimpse he had of the pilot was a flash of white leaping up and over the stone fence surrounding the estate.

* * *

Wufei woke with a suddenness that was terrifying.

Everything had fallen apart in the last few days. Treize had resigned and was in Luxembourg, and while the headmistress had assured him that nothing would change for him and he wouldn't be pushed to make any changes in his life, everything still felt unsettled and wrong at the edges.

His Benefactor and Alpha was under house arrest in another country, and everything was not fine. It was not not not fine. His resignation was, according to his speech, because he favored the pilots and wanted the mobile dolls being pushed by Romefeller destroyed. 

He hadn't called Wufei. He had written, apologized, promised everything would work out. Something in his last letter had been blacked out heavily, so Wufei assumed his post was being read. Everything in him ached and he was sick with worry and fear, and he had to do his best to hide it.

He couldn't hide anything for love or money right at the moment because he was absolutely certain to the core of him that someone was in the room with him, and he was in desperate trouble.

"Get up. I know you're awake." He didn't know that voice, not at all. It had a command behind it, something firm and sure and utterly terrifying.

He didn't want to. He didn't want to, he didn't _want to,_ but his body was disobeying him entirely. A shudder worked its way down his spine, and he wanted to yell and refuse and demand that whoever it was fuck right off.

He couldn't.

"Get up. You're coming with me. You never should have been here." It was a solid command, repeated, and he could feel the breeze from outside. "Put clothes on."

He didn't want to do that. He didn't, but his brain felt like molasses and his hands were busy doing as he was told. The night breeze was cold, so he pulled on his heaviest clothing and a pair of boots before finally managing to come to a stop. "I. I don't want to go." It was the best he could do.

"That man does not deserve you. He _stole_ you. You have a mother, a family." The voice was hard, growled. "Out the window and down the rope."

Wufei shuddered because he didn't want to go. He didn't, but what else was there to do but obey? Nothing. Nothing, and so he went to the window and climbed out of it, hands on the rope. There were knots in it that made it easier for him to make his way down, at least.

His heart was hammering as the person stepped away from the rope and left it hanging out of his window. It was going to look like he had run away. Treize was going to think he had run away, and he. He hadn't. Had he?

"You're coming to the colony with me."

"I don't want to go," he said again, and the tears in his eyes were from fury. He was so angry he was shaking. "I don't belong to you. I don't belong to anyone!"

"But you're following me. You're an omega. And the Alliance took you from your people. They've taken so much from us, well, I'm taking it back." There was anger in that low growl, fury, and then a hand on his arm pulling him along, down the dark street.

"You're taking me away from my home and my friends and I don't want to go!" Wufei tried to jerk away from the Alpha, angry.

"They already did that once, you just don't remember!" He or she pulled hard, taking him toward a bike that was leaning up against a wall.

"I'll remember now and I'll never forgive you." Not ever.

He fuzzily followed, feeling weird and angry about it as he was pulled onto the back of a motorbike behind the Alpha, and they took off into the night. Not even a helmet! Nothing, and so he held on tightly to the slim waist, surprised by the curve of it. So.... female Alpha, then? It wasn't unheard of or even all that unusual. The Alpha's voice was a low contralto, and so she could obviously have been mistaken for a male.

She was dressed ambiguously, and clearly played into it. No one had reported on the genders of the pilots, because that sort of thing got too confusing in war and gunsmoke did terrible things to the senses, Treize had said offhandedly once. She smelled Alpha, weirdly fruit and spice and musk that close, and he was still so angry. He should have been able to push her out the window. What kind of life was that when just a word pitched right could make him obey?

It was infuriating and unfair, and he was going to figure out a way to resist or die trying. Wufei set his jaw and held on tightly, allowing his anger to come forward, wondering if he could force something forward in order to get free. The speed of the bike was terrifying; he'd never been on one before, and there they were, sans helmet and wearing clothing that wasn't going to prevent them from being torn apart if something terrible happened.

They tore out of the city, and into the suburbs, and then to the woods, where he truly started to fear for his life until the bike came to a stop. "Come. We're leaving. We're going home."

"My home is in Brussels," Wufei insisted. "I don't want to go with you." He wasn't going to run. He didn't want to provoke any behavior that might end with him claimed or savaged.

She got off the bike and pulled him by his wrist. "Then fight me for it," she said, and it was maybe taunting. "Stop listening to me. You can't, can you? You're just subservient to your hormones."

Wufei hissed in fury, snatching his wrist loose. "I'll figure out how. You want me to go to a colony where I'll be treated this way? Go fuck yourself."

"You think you'll fare any better with a deposed warlord? Where will you go when they hang him?" She didn't step back.

They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't, and god, but he was angry. "I would rather die than be yours!"

"You were originally to be my omega. Back home, and they took you when they killed half the village. And then they came back to the colony and killed my partner, one of the few omegas they didn't steal. And now you are coming back with me." Her voice dropped, the growl more commanding. "I am Liung Meiran, head of my clan, and you're coming home."

He. He didn't want to go. He didn't, and he ground his teeth together tightly. "No." His voice wavered, though. Dammit!

"He's going to die. The man you think is your Alpha is going to die when they hang him after they have settled this war with mobile dolls. His neck will snap, and then the men who act in his name as a splinter faction will give up. Nothing in the world will change, and the Alliance will be in charge. And where will you go then?" She kept holding a hand out to him.

"I don't want to go." His voice was wavering, though. Dammit. "I love him."

"Come with me. Your love will not keep that man alive." She held out her hand, making an insistent movement. "And then you will pass like property to his family."

His family.

That included his god-awful stepfather and step-grandfather, and god alone knew who else. Wufei knew he would be in danger if that happened, or worse. "Will you let me return if he lives?"

Her smile turned easier then, more relaxed. "If that man lives to see the end of the year, yes. I'll return you myself."

"And you won't touch me in the meantime. Nor will anyone else." Because he didn't want that. He definitely didn't.

"If that's what you want. Yes." She was looking more and more pleased, hand still held out. "Come. We need to leave now."

Wufei didn't want to go. It was the last thing that he wanted.

Dermail and Hundelt Catalonia were very good reasons, though, and so he stepped forward, head down, and if tears dropped, well.

No one, he supposed, really cared.

* * *

Everything was lost.

He had taken a stand; his dearest Colonel had been shot. Zechs was somewhere in the wilds, having narrowly survived that treason charge and subsequent fight. His Companion was missing, presumed to have run away.

Epyon was complete, and he would be handing it over to Pilot 01, Heero Yuy, when he arrived. Honestly, that was almost laughable considering who his own father was. In the meantime, he began pulling and tugging at threads in order to be able to leave as soon as that happened.

He had to find out what had happened with Wufei, and he had a feeling it was tied to the pilot of 05. That had been too much a coincidence, the angry Alpha who had lost their omega, who had been among the sole protectors of a decrepit colony in just one battle among many for Treize. Just another notable day, more lives lost, things achieved or not.

This wasn't going to be something he lost. It absolutely was not, and so Treize was already packing up everything he would need. Possibly he should have kept Epyon for himself to go to L5, but that wasn't the future he had seen. He had Tallgeese II, and it was perfectly viable. It was good for his uses, and there was so much more to do. There was, he needed to keep all the balls in the air together, and he wasn't sure he had the strength to keep doing it. The futures Epyon had offered him seemed dark, terrible, and he had kept looking until one, two seemed feasible.

It all led straight to L5, and so that was where he would go. There were no Alphas registered, but there had been no Omegas registered, either, so it was obvious that they weren't following any of the requirements for that, which was completely understandable. Who would register giving the circumstances of a forced move to a colony on which they had not sought to live? He wouldn't have in similar circumstances. But once he got there, there were choices. There were options.

It hinged on how greedy he was feeling, or how tired he was.

Right now he was exhausted, beyond it truth be told. Who wouldn't be? He'd been furious at his family for pulling the extra security measures he had set up at the finishing school, and he had let them know it in no uncertain terms for all the good it did. He was on the outs with them since he had refused to do anything that they wanted him to do.

They were about to discover how dangerous he could be when pushed. He had been polite with them until now, had borne his step-grandfather's insistence on still talking to him to get and then immediately ignore his opinion as things spiraled out of control.

Fuck.

That.

He had just finished loading Tallgeese II when he was notified that Pilot 01 was approaching the Luxembourg estate, and that brought on equal parts amusement and frustration because he had to stop what he was doing and prepare to be a mysterious Benefactor as opposed to the actual frustrated Benefactor that he was.

Pilot 01 was an amazing creature, and Treize hoped he achieved his goals. There wasn't time to explain what he was doing or needed, and it was easier to play the game one step to the left publicly than he felt personally.

It left him more time and ability to be able to maneuver, and right now that was what he needed. Time to get past his asshole relatives and get to Wufei was far more important than whatever else was going on, and if that meant he had to spend time pretending he was someone he wasn't for the sake of Heero Yuy, he'd damned well do it..

He put his uniform back on, pulled a rose from the vase on his desk, and waited.

And then he was going to deal with the pilot from 05.

* * *

He was being kept in a hòugōng.

Wufei was going to commit absolute fucking murder.

Liung Meiran was first on the list.

It was beautiful, covered in pillows and couches, beds and other items of comfort. Some of the pillows had a shape that implied they were useful for rigorous, endless fucking sessions.

He was going to go out of his mind.

The fact that he had a mother and a father and a younger brother was just... it felt ridiculous and surreal. He didn't know what to say about that, or how to feel about it. Nothing made sense, truth be told, and they kept coming to see him and expecting him to feel things. Worse, they seemed to accept that the hòugōng was the appropriate place for him, which left him gnashing his teeth and wanting to scream. As if he were waiting for someone to come and select him, as if he belonged there until he finally came into heat and blossomed. His mother, an omega, had declared it important.

He was definitely going to stab someone.

Right between the goddamned eyes.

At least so far nothing had triggered off a false heat. He'd settle for that, quite frankly, and be grateful for it. What else was there to be, after all? Without sedation and proper medication, he'd probably be a begging wreck in short order, and he'd be damned straight to hell before that happened.

He could guess, from the way Meiran came around and lingered and kept bringing him books, that she was waiting for it. She was just waiting for his heat to hit and then he'd ask and she'd be there.

He'd tear out his own tongue first.

The most annoying thing was that all of the books had been in Mandarin, at first. He didn't read the damned language. He spoke and read English and French and Universal, and someone had finally dredged up a few battered old books in one or the other of those languages until they had managed to disable a datapad sufficiently so as to raid online repositories for more interesting things in the languages he did read.

He was still trying to work out how to un-disable the damned thing. 

He wasn't happy, and okay, yes, he could see the argument, but he had a home and friends. He had a home and friends and he belonged in a place, even if to Meiran's eyes it was the same thing as a hòugōng.

It really truly absolutely was not. He could walk down the street if he liked, there weren't beta guards standing at the doors to keep him from leaving. It was a world apart from this, whatever it was.

And she kept saying he belonged there.

What he heard was that he belonged to _her,_ even if that wasn't what she wanted to say out loud. "Wufei. I thought you might want company for dinner."

"No, thank you." If he sounded like a prim and prissy maiden aunt from a Victorian novel, well. She just brought it out in him.

"You're still having company for dinner," she said, bringing him a plate to set on the table, and setting one down beside it. "Has anyone told you what happened here?"

"No. Mostly they seem to be trying to convince me that this place is only natural and right." He bared his teeth at her.

"It's where omegas were traditionally to be kept, schooled and safe, both with the first colonists here and then with us. When we were brought here from Earth, they took all the young omegas but Mu Tsu." She beckoned him to come sit with her.

"Where is this Mu Tsu?" Obviously not here with him. Wufei didn't want to sit beside her so he moved to the other side of the table before settling in across from her, reaching to pull his plate across to him.

"He's buried out in that field. We had two mechs on the colony, when OZ invaded. When the Alliance tried to poison us all." She twisted her chopsticks in some interesting noodle dish. "I was in the unfinished Gundam, and he was in the Tallgeese."

Oh.

Wufei wound his own chopsticks into the noodles. "I'm sorry to hear that. The Tallgeese is a very difficult mobile suit. It killed full grown Alphas who were hardy and hale." For an Omega, it would be a great deal more difficult. "Mu Tsu must have been very brave and loved you very much. I love my Alpha that much, so you need to understand that I will never ask for you."

"You've never even been with the man." She pulled a face, and sighed. "You're just fancy pen pals."

"And you're a stranger who stole me from my home and my friends and everything else I know." Of course he hadn't been with him! That would have been wildly inappropriate and would have been physically dangerous for him. He was closer to maturity now, but even so. He wondered how mature Mu Tsu had been when they had mated.

Not very mature, he was willing to guess. Unless she and Mu Tsu were both older than he was; she didn't look much older. "Your mother wanted you back so badly."

"My mother keeps trying to convince me that being confined like a, like some sort of concubine, is wildly appropriate. I don't remember her, I don't remember any of these people." He had never considered his parents, although he had been aware that he had them and had perhaps fantasized about what they would be like -- feisty, he had hoped, willing to fight alongside him for his right to choose what he wanted, for his right to be seen as a person and not just an object to be sequestered and kept safe. This was the opposite of that.

He had talked about it with Treize -- the Treize who said he had no ambition, of course, so perhaps that required a grain of salt -- and he seemed to have no interest in restricting Wufei. "There are too many Alphas right now with no partners. It... it's unfortunate, it wasn't necessary before. To confine. It's really to keep people out."

Just thinking about that sent a shudder rippling down his spine. "How many?" He stuffed his mouth with noodles.

"Forty-three." She lifted her eyebrows at him. "Because our Omegas were systematically taken from us, because you're pretty and exotic and rich Benefactors want to fuck you."

He couldn't stop the tidal wave of crimson that shot across his countenance, starting in his ears and working its way probably halfway down his chest. "And what, you think I'll be able to be bred enough to make up for all of that? You still have older Omegas, did they produce no more?"

"No. Just Alphas and Betas. It's strange, but we had to spend more time with our scientists working to keep the colony going then we've been able to troubleshoot what's going on." She ate a little more, leaning on one elbow. "I think the trauma made you forget."

"The trauma for this won't make me forget," Wufei informed pointedly. "I've spent far too long as someone else somewhere else. It's..." Everything felt difficult, and he didn't want to worry about the people of L5. He didn't. He wasn't one of them anymore.

Dammit.

"You were supposed to be my Omega first," she sighed, staring down into her plate. "And then everything went to hell."

"That was then." He was someone else's Omega now. It made him feel guilty for some reason. It wasn't as if it was his fault. Everything was changed now.

"I know." She sighed that, and waved her chopsticks slightly. "There's fighting outside the compound where they're keeping him."

Wufei's spine straightened, fear rippling through him. "Is he...?" Safe? Was he fighting?

Did he know someone had taken him?

"I don't know. There are mechs fighting, last I heard. I wondered if the other pilots were involved." But she was there with him, waiting for the stress to put him into heat, he was sure, so he wasn't going to ask.

He wanted to be obnoxious and difficult, he truly did, but he also felt bad for them that there were that many unattached Alphas on-colony with no Omegas. He just didn't want to be one here in this place. "How many Omegas were taken? Originally?"

"From L5 before we got here? Twenty. From our combined villages? Another fifteen. Mu Tsu hid under corpses, and no one could smell him properly by the time they put him on the shuttle."

Oh.

Oh, that was horrible. "Corpses?" Wufei didn't want to know, but he truly had to ask.

"As a village, his people did not go quietly when the soldiers took their children. They fought." She leaned her other elbow on the table. "He grew up to be beautiful. Hair down to his ass. He was vain, and he hated his glasses."

It was obvious that she had loved him. "Mine don't bother me. I like being able to see what I'm reading." He didn't ask why he hadn't just had surgery. Most vision problems were fixable, but L5 was clearly not in very good shape. They probably spent everything they had maintaining the place.

"They make you look older." She kept eating, and waved her chopsticks at him again. "Like a tutor, perhaps."

"I haven't reached maturity yet," he murmured, eating another bite. "But I will take that as a compliment." He wondered what it would have been like to grow up with her, to live this life.

"Ages, yes. We usually do it unguarded, not the first heat but the second. Some people don't have a second heat until they're in their twenties." She flushed a little as she said it. "Or that was what we discussed. Mu Tsu had had his first heat."

At least he wasn't the only one feeling embarrassed about the conversation. "I am sorry about him. Truly. Tallgeese's manufacturing was..." He waved his chopsticks. "The technology to better protect the cockpit and lessen the G forces wasn't good enough yet.

"Is that what your madman pilots? I've only seen him out of mechs." She had seen him. That was more useful information to him than Wufei had gotten so far.

Wufei shrugged his shoulders. "He's an Alpha." A much better Alpha than any of the others he had run across. He felt no need to present himself as the Alpha of all Alphas, which was what made him just that in Wufei's opinion.

She scoffed quietly, glancing at him as she looked down into her bowl. "He's a man. A sad lonely man who fights well with a sword."

"He was on track for the Olympics in 174, but things didn't work out as planned." To say the least. The Olympics had sadly not been held since the event in 170. Too much war.

"Oh. What a complete bastard." Meiran seemed annoyed by that, and gave Wufei an unhappy squinting look. "No wonder he won."

"You fought with him?" Ugh. Wufei wanted to do that. It wasn't fair that someone else had gotten to fence with him, although he supposed that Meiran had been more inclined to kill him.

"Twice. He's good." She sniffed slightly, like that offended her. "He kept my sword the second time."

That did sound like him, and Wufei couldn't keep his mouth from curving into a smile. "That sounds like him."

Her mouth compressed tightly, and she frowned slightly at him while he poked around in his bowl. "I can't see how he could get out of what he's in now."

"He will," Wufei promised. "And he will come for me. You can be sure of that."

"He has a world to run and more war to fight if he gets out of it. Are you as important as the world?" She looked up, held his gaze firmly, challenging him.

He looked directly back at her, unflinching and certain in that even if there was a seed of worry in the pit of his stomach. "Yes."

"We'll find out if he doesn't die." She shrugged it genuinely. "And I wonder if he comes here, will it be to finish off this colony?"

Not while Wufei was on it, in any case. "He doesn't like the way that UESA does things. If anything, I think he wants the colonies to have the equal freedoms they're demanding and hopes that you'll be successful."

That made her mouth compress again, and she scoffed, sitting back. That, that was Alpha for _'I agree and you're an asshole for saying it because I don't like it.'_ "He is insane. He inflicted the blockades on us!"

"That, unfortunately, would be his step-grandfather. Treize doesn't have the power to defy him at this time." He was working on it, though. How his resignation was supposed to help that, Wufei was uncertain.

It seemed like that had been a bad choice, but Wufei didn't know. Treize's letters had been censored, and he hadn't dared to ask the obvious question. "Not his brother, the last dictator?"

"I couldn't say, but I can only imagine that he would have been in the same situation as Treize -- not enough power to defy his grandfather." Or he could be prone to the same sort of asininity.

"Do you know how many groups are in the wars now?" She set the chopsticks aside.

"No." And now he was watching her, wanting to be sure of what she was seeing and doing.

"The colonies, each individually, though Winner wants us to all be friends. OZ, now run by Romefeller. There are still some Alliance forces left. There's a Treize faction that is its own army. There is also White Fang, a colonial terrorist organization which has an army from, I think, L3. This is now a nine party war."

"World War, how many is it again." His stomach went sour. "He'll still come for me."

"Do you think he knows this is where you are?" If she had fought him and he had kept the sword the second time, if she had given any clues or spoken, then yes. It was possible.

"Yes." He did believe it, to the depths of his soul, even if he feared that he might not. "I think so."

"I'll bring you news tonight." She decided that after a moment more of watching him.

"Thank you." What else was he supposed to say, after all? No, that he didn't want to know about anything? That would be a filthy lie.

She nodded at him, and stood up, picking up her bowl. And then she looked around, and seemed to sigh. "You have to admit the beds are nicer here."

"The beds," he said, "are a little embarrassing here." But they were awfully nice, he couldn't lie about that.

That got a laugh out of her, a genuine sounding thing that he liked the sound of. "What's embarrassing about it?"

Both of his eyebrows raised. "I refuse to say it, you know exactly what's embarrassing about it." He thought that perhaps if they had been raised together, he might have truly liked her. Perhaps more than liked her.

"It was embarrassing to walk in on your pervert Alpha readying a sex toy before bed. There's nothing wrong with good positional pillows." She sniffed again.

Oh god.

He was going to die of embarrassment, so he just raised both hands and covered his face. "I don't want to know." Ever. Just. Ever. Or at least not until sometime later, when he wasn't in front of someone who definitely wasn't his Alpha.

"You'll know sometime." She quipped that at him, and took her finished dish with her and left.

It had been nice to have company for a moment, and he felt sorry for her. For all of them, truth be told. Not so sorry that he'd be willing to stay here and belong to anyone, but sorry all the same.

* * *

It was a tempest in a teapot that he was focused on in the midst of a superstorm, but everything linked together for him and he knew the game was still unfolding. He had time, a very short window to move and act before the world shifted again or needed to be shifted. It was risky -- he was a free agent with backing from his faction, and Relena was still Queen. No one had struck out at her.

He was waiting for it, though. There were so many wolves at the gates that the wolves were probably throwing dice to choose who went first.

His transmitter clicked on, which wasn't unsuspected. _"Approaching mobile suit, identify."_ It was in Universal but was promptly repeated in Mandarin and French and... was that Luxembourgish?

Oh, that was delightfully suspicious, and he answered appropriately in Universal, as was the appropriate technique. "General Khushrenada, seeking admittance to the colony."

It took a long moment before any response came. _"You are cleared for approach."_ It didn't sound happy.

"Confirmed. Thank you." He clicked off, completely in disregard for the appropriate technique, and assumed the position to pass through an opened spaceport as he approached the locks.

They opened, and that was a relief. At least he wouldn't have to fight to get into the damned place, although it was a surprise that they were making it this easy. It honestly made him feel paranoid, which was probably for the best.

A man ought to be paranoid, landing after a good eight hours in transit. He was careful when he touched down, focused on not hitting hard, not doing damage with his burners. Enough damage had been done. There didn't need to be any more.

He was met by Pilot 05, and the scent of Alpha drifted past with a tinge of Wufei's scent, passive transfer. "Khushrenada."

He had stretched as he stood at the door of his opened cockpit, and eased down using the small handholds. "Pilot."

Ah, that face expressed... well, he wasn't sure, precisely. "Liung," came the correction. "Liung Meiran."

"A pleasure to meet you properly." He dusted his gloves hands off, and then folded his hands behind his back. "I'm here for Wufei."

"And what makes you think I'll let you have him? His mother is pleased to have him here." Treize was certain she was.

"Because you allowed me into your colony. And I don't think you'd assault him." Treize held very still, watching Meiran, watching the other colonists come close because yes, Tallgeese II was impressive.

"You're a thief!" someone yelled, and it was hard to argue that. "You stole our Omegas!"

Well. It was quite difficult to argue against that, only he personally hadn't stolen anything. Just made it possible, he supposed.

He inclined his head slightly, and didn't take his eyes off of Meiran. "I was a little young to have been involved in the particular case of what happened to Wufei."

Meiran shrugged. "I am aware. It doesn't stop the fact that here you are to steal him again, to break his mother's heart."

"Perhaps not the best argument to make with me." He flashed a smile, tight and quick, hands still folded casually behind his back. "Please, lead the way."

One hand was thrown up, and that seemed to be some sort of sign to the others there. They parted, allowing Meiran through with Treize.

He was led to a palace, for lack of a better word, and from there to something that looked like a harem, for equal lack of a better word -- there were doors and windows, but they were all well-guarded by wooden screens, and there was a high walled garden to the side with sharply spiked walls around it. At the very least, Wufei had been well guarded from the rest of the populace, but Treize could only imagine precisely how angry that must have made him. Wufei had been angry after Darius running away had taken the library and coffee shops from him for a time. This made the world an even smaller place. He stepped past Meiran, walking past the guards, and pushed at one of the doors. The second that it opened, he heard a sharp intake of breath and a cry. It wasn't a surprise when he had an armful of Omega when the door opened in its entirety.

"Treize!"

For the first time ever, Wufei smelled, reeked of pheromones, and Treize clutched him tight, tucking his head down and breathing deeply. "Oh, I have missed you."

Wufei's breath was sharp, shuddering, and his fingers were hard, clenching tightly to hold Treize to him. "I was afraid you wouldn't know where to come."

"I would have found you anywhere, Wufei." He slid a hand down Wufei's back, stroking and clutching him tight. "I'm glad you were safe and well cared for."

The sound Meiran gave was annoyed. "As if we would harm him. He's ours."

"But I don't know any of you!" That sounded like something that had been said altogether too often.

He tilted his head slightly, and murmured, "Shh, we just need to go." Very quietly, because they were absolutely surrounded and if Wufei didn't mind arguing that was delightful; Treize knew he was the spark to the kindling in any situation.

The noise Meiran gave was sharp. "Not unless you want to deal with a heat in the dark of space, you don't."

"Hmn?" Treize didn't quite lift his head from Wufei's neck, still holding him desperately close; he didn't want to let go, because Wufei fit so nicely against him and he'd been a little scared, a little unsure if he was honest.

"Can't you even smell him?" The question was sharp, irritated. "He's going to go any time now. You've got your face buried right there, it's impossible to miss. You're an Alpha, pull yourself together. It's your job to take care of him, not to go all fuzzy brained."

He exhaled slowly, and lifted his head as if he was moving through sand. "Hmn, never experienced it. We really do need to get back..." But he couldn't pilot with Wufei like that on his lap, and those dark grey eyes were peering up at him, worried and a little hazy.

Damn.

Just. Damn.

Meiran sighed. "Stay here. Someone should at least get the enjoyment out of the place."

"I don't want to impose." Or particularly be vulnerable, but it seemed his timing had been accidentally excellent. Another day and things might have been much less pleasant. "Wufei?"

"Hmmm?" His face was buried against Treize's chest. They'd be lucky if it weren't even faster than he'd first thought. Damn.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and gently nudged Wufei back through the door. "I'm sorry, it looks like we'll be imposing then."

"But I want to go home." That scowl was a delight. He had chosen so well, and Wufei smelled wonderful.

Meiran waved a hand. "I'll lock you in. We can discuss more later. I'll be back with food and supplies." What sort of supplies, well. They'd have to see.

"We'll go home. I don't think I can pilot like this," he apologized, gentling Wufei into the room he had almost gotten out of. "Might take a couple of days."

"More like three." That was a displeased sort of sound. "He said he wasn't fully mature, but he should be. We're the same age."

"He's been on suppressors." He rolled his neck a little, trying to keep his head about him, just a little longer. "You wouldn't happen to have condoms?"

"We don't have any Omegas of breeding age, so... no." Well. That didn't bode well. "And I wasn't planning on using any if the situation should arise."

"Beta females can still carry." Surely he had said that before and it hadn't seemed to click. It just seemed preposterous. They were in a war, he couldn't be absolutely sure how this was going to resolve, it wasn't a time for babies.

"Yes, but it's not the same. With no Omegas, there's no going into rut and the amount of semen is less. We can try the standard condoms, but the likelihood of it working is low."

Wufei muttered, "I don't care," but he'd damn sure care when he wasn't on the cusp.

"I'll try. I'm not in rut, I'm on suppressors." It would even it out, it would be more manageable and then it dawned on him that no, no he wasn't. They'd let him build a Gundam, and practice shooting, but Dermail hadn't wanted him on that _'unnatural shit',_ and he just didn't think about it much. It wasn't a factor in his life the way other people fixated on it.

He started to laugh, still holding onto Wufei.

"What's so funny?" 05 was always angry when they were talking, it was ridiculous. "I'm giving you a gift, and you laugh?"

"'m not a gift," Wufei informed, but his face was still buried against Treize's chest. "I'm me."

"Just remembered I've been off the suppressors for months." He stepped further away from 05 and nudged Wufei with him, toward the bed. He was half tempted to sweep him off his feet, but everything was stiff after being in the cockpit for so long, and dropping him wouldn't do. "You're wonderful, Wufei. I'm sorry the circumstances are less than ideal."

"You're here, that's ideal."

Behind them, 05 gave a sound. "I'll bring things back," Treize was informed, and then the door was shut and it was just him and Wufei.

He started to try to unbutton his uniform jacket without making Wufei move first. "How have you been? I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep the security in place." He could focus, keep his wits together long enough.

"It's fine." Fine, yes, great. "It, Meiran came and she made me go with her, I didn't want to go. And then I've been here in the hòugōng. It's ridiculous but she says there are forty some odd Alphas and it's for my safety."

He shrugged his shoulders and tried to ease out of the jacket. "Help me get undressed, please, and then I'll undress you."

"Finally." That sigh said it all, and Wufei's hands were on him, working at getting it off and then attacking the buttons of the shirt underneath it, shaking. "Finally, I wanted to go home with you months and months ago, I wanted..."

"I should have taken you home then. I'm sorry." It might have been a little soon, a little risqué, but he would have had Wufei at his side and it would have been a different kind of stress. He inhaled, the faint familiar warm skin that he had memorized every time he came into contact with Wufei and a little heat sweat, the smell of slick, and started to pull at the bottom of the simple, loose pullover shirt Wufei was wearing. "I had wanted to bring you home and make a proper fuss of it."

Wufei shuddered. "Now. Make a proper fuss of it now," he murmured, and raised his arms to let Treize pull off the shirt before he began tugging at Treize's trouser fastenings.

Two rows of buttons straight down from his hip bones; very good for functionality and not having a fabric line crushed up against his dick when he was seated in a mech and unable to move much, but very fussy just then. He didn't interrupt Wufei, just brushed a touch of hand across his chest, down his arm. Treize had never quite firmly imagined Wufei naked before, and now he had him bare, lithe, strong. 

And forty unmated Alphas outside who probably wanted to fuck him.

That wasn't going to happen, even if he had to fight every last one of them, and Treize was determined about that. They wouldn't leave this place unmated, that much was certain, and be damned with the Homecoming ceremony and the branding. They'd do that later, or perhaps even not, because Treize loved every perfect inch of that skin, and he wanted the only thing ever to mar it to be his teeth. He could get away with flaunting tradition, blame it as it having been done and the paperwork lost in the war. Something, something when he didn't have to work out how to get out of his boots while Wufei put his hands in Treize's underwear and oh fuck.

_Fuck._

That hand was hot and at first the grip was a little too loose, but then Wufei seemed to realize and he adjusted it, clasping just right, and the coo of noise that Wufei told Treize exactly how pleased he was by it. "It's perfect."

He exhaled raggedly and leaned into Wufei, because he could not distinctly remember the last time a human hand other than his own had touched him. "Is it?" He wanted Wufei's pants off, wanted to lick and suck and taste, wanted to wrap him up in pleasure before he got too caught up in it.

"Oh, yes." He licked his lips and then bit the lower one. "It's so. So perfect, oh, god, can we please just get the rest of this off because you have to, you have to..." There was a flush on his cheeks and he'd begun to sweat more, the smell of him sweet and wanton and needy.

"Tell me what I have to do?" He asked that as he slid a hand down to Wufei's wrist, to try to push his pants and underwear down.

"Give it to me." There was a hint of a growl beneath the words, a demand, and no one had ever told him that Omegas could command an Alpha but damned if that didn't feel like it. It felt amazing, it felt like he was going to die if he didn't. He'd fucked, he'd certainly had lovers, tried things, but he had never come across that particular tug of sensation as he gently pushed Wufei back onto the strange bed piled up with pillows that seemed like they would be quite helpful in short order.

They were finally, finally, finally naked, and Wufei pulled him in, already demanding, and Treize leaned in to catch his mouth. It earned him a sharp kiss, hot and needy, tongue pushing between the seam of Treize's mouth to tease and tantalize. The press of bare skin against his was heaven, an urgency he hadn't expected rising in his stomach as he kissed Wufei back, sliding his tongue against Wufei's, meeting him there, wrapping his arms around him for a moment in the sheer joy of it. God, this was perfect, he was perfect, and his thighs parted easily, allowing Treize into the cradle of them, slim smaller cock pressed against Treize's larger one. "Yes yes yes."

He rocked against him, enjoying the stroke and the slide, rising to his knees a little and reaching between their bodies so he could stroke both at once, press their dicks together and squeeze. "How do you like to masturbate?"

Wufei laughed, a joyous sound. "Like this sometimes. Three fingers deep when everything's too much. Even with the suppressants, sometimes it would get very... warm."

Real heats in there, then. "How many times?" Treize kissed at Wufei's neck, thrusting his hips to get that friction and wishing he had more hands. He was going to be more than three fingers deep very soon.

"Aaahhhh. Oh, oh. Two? The last two." So the one at the hospital probably had been a true heat, and Wufei's head was dropped back, his hands clutching at Treize desperately. His hips were rocking, pushing up, making it hard to keep stroking both of their cocks, and the smell of him was making Treize giddy. "Fuck, fuck!"

He should have taken him home already, Treize decided as he shifted down, kissing and letting go of the attempt to stroke them off together. They would have plenty of sex where they weren't out of their heads, plenty of time to try things and be lazy and slow, but this time he wanted to taste Wufei, to suck him off and lick his ass before he showed him how much better than fingers he could get. "No toys?"

Wufei probably would have blushed if he weren't already desperate and slick with sweat and searing, the fever of heat on his skin. "N-no. No, no, there were, no. That's what... oh, would you, I need you to...."

He urged Wufei to lie back, further up on the bed, and he grabbed one of the pillows to slide it under Wufei's hips and thighs. Then he could kiss down his belly while tracing a finger just along the crack of his ass, and that alone was enough to make him cry out, body shifting, trying desperately for a moment to turn onto his front. Treize didn't want him there yet, though.

"I want to see you. I want you to see me." He wanted him face up instead of ass up and presenting, and Treize knew he could get the angle he wanted just as they were. Even if he had to use pillows to get there. Treize licked his thumb, and then pressed it in slowly, finding slick there and smelling how much Wufei wanted it as he kissed at the base of Wufei's dick. He wanted his Companion wild for him, begging.

He wasn't far from it, truth be told. Wufei's thighs were shaking, and he seemed frantic for a moment before he seemed to get control of it, rocking himself against Treize's thumb and moaning fitfully. God, he was beautiful and Treize couldn't wait to taste him. "Please, please, please!"

"Shhh, shhh, you'll be okay, I just want to taste you." He wanted to suck his cock, wanted to do everything. Treize pressed a kiss against the underside of his dick, feeling the slight bounce and pulse in response to pressure as he worked his way up, pressing his thumb in and out of Wufei.

"Treize." It was a whimper, and Treize wondered how long it would be before he came because he wanted Wufei to come, wanted to feel the hot slick squeeze of him around his fingers. "Treize, please."

"Please?" He slipped and twisted his hand, pulling two fingers back and starting to slide them in with care beside the thumb, while he waited for an answer.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Yes, and Wufei couldn't seem to stop moving. How hot must he have been? How close would it have been if he hadn't made it in time? Just thinking about it brought a thread of heat and irritation to Treize's face, and fuck but he was beautiful there, hands holding his own thighs apart, pulling them wider so that Treize could see everything.

He licked the underside of Wufei's cock, and pulled back, sitting up more so he could take in that view, see the way three fingers brought together stretched Wufei. His own dick ached, but he could be patient, wanting to stretch out the time he had with Wufei even if he was desperately needy. "Almost, I promise you'll have everything you want soon."

Everything, and Wufei looked at him, expression hazy, and he whined, and god. God, but he was gorgeous, and so fucking wet, slick starting to trickle its way down his wrist now. "Please, Alpha!"

He couldn't smell anything but Wufei by then, couldn't think, so he eased back slicked fingers to wrap them around Wufei's cock, a little extra smoothing as he stroked it proud and upright. It was almost a miracle that he could do that and shift on his knees between spread thighs, positioning the head of his cock with his other hand. "Tell me if I need to stop. You are so beautiful..."

"Don't stop. Don't stop," Wufei managed, and he pulled his knees wide apart and up, trying his best to offer himself up to Treize. He was gorgeous, and clearly insistently wanting. "Don't stop, please, Alpha, please!"

It was possible the world might disintegrate around them, because he wasn't sure he could ever leave a moment like that. Treize eased the head of his cock up against Wufei's hole, and started to press forward, eased by the slick, by Wufei's begging, and Wufei keened, high and sharp, entire body tensing up around him, shuddering as a sharp spill of semen splattered on his belly, nowhere near as much as Treize produced.

It gave him room to think, to breathe, to focus for a brief moment. He rocked in slowly against Wufei, sliding both hands to hold his hips while Treize slowly pushed into his Companion. "Better, so much better..."

Soft and slick, a flood of wetness making it easier to push into him, and Wufei's arms came up, legs wrapping around his hips instead as Wufei pulled him in closer, panting and trembling in his pleasure. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

He went with it, leaning down into Wufei and just pushing, enjoying the tight, slow slick slide that was like nothing he had quite felt before. His brain was probably doing a lot of that, anticipation and knowing he could do that forever. "Mm, we're getting there."

Wufei's mouth was open wide, soft sounds that were breathy with pleasure spilling from him. "Oh. Oh, oh!" Oh, indeed, and he was clasping Treize's cock so tightly that it was a miracle he hadn't just rutted him open and knotted him then and there. "Please!"

He grabbed another pillow, a funny triangle that he put behind Wufei's shoulders. And then a last one under his unsupported hip, and that was perfect, let him stay comfortably on his knees as he leaned in to kiss Wufei's neck. That seemed to encourage the sounds because they grew louder, and one of Wufei's hand came up to clasp the back of his neck, his head rolling to the side to give Treize better access. He was still pleading, hips rolling, and Treize had never imagined how delightfully needy his Omega might be.

He finally had the answer to what all the excitement was about. It was lulling, and he started to lose himself in it steadily now that everything felt better, that he could get just the right angle. A steady deep slide every time he thrust, feeling an urge for just a little more friction, and he caught Wufei's knee in the bend of his elbow, opening him up wider, and Wufei cried out loudly and clenched around him again, body going stiff below him for a moment, obviously overcome by the pleasure.

It was enough for him to lean into it, thrusting that little bit more, enough to bury himself in to the root. "Oh, fuck."

"Please, Alpha!" Wufei's cheeks were on fire, his eyes hazy with lust when he opened them to look at him. "Please, I need you. I _need_ you."

He needed to relax and keep moving, push Wufei as far as he could go; that was what they were supposed to do, wasn't it? Let loose and knot their omega, strain them, and when he pushed in again, it earned him the best sounds, perfect, and he was starting to know what Wufei looked like when he was going to come, because he was beautiful and Treize couldn't stop looking at him. His legs were wrapped around Treize, and his hands had gone to his hips, pulling him in, in, in.

More, more, and he rocked, thrusting harder, breathing in Wufei's scent, and there was the feeling he had been trying to chase, hazy and desperate and wonderful. Wufei was sobbing, begging, perfect, so perfect, and Treize could feel himself salivating, _wanting_ , so close to the edge that it was dizzying.

He leaned his head down, pressed his mouth against the skin between Wufei's shoulder and neck, and bit as gently as he could think to, thrusting harder, hips jerking a little more frantically once he realized he was stuck in, expanding.

Wufei's hole clenched tight around him, milking him as he cried out, loud and desperate. His nails bit into Treize's ass as he held him close and tight, and came between them again.

It felt impossible, shivers and clenching, and he groaned against Wufei's skin as he got that little bit more pressure he needed. It left him gasping as he fucked into Wufei, seeing spots behind his eyes.

When he finally came back to himself, Wufei was lying beneath him, breath slowing and becoming more even. His lashes were lowered, and the redness of his face and chest seemed to have receded somewhat.

Treize kissed at his chest, one arm wrapped around Wufei and holding him close. "Mine. All mine to please."

That earned him a hum, a flutter of lashes, before Wufei sighed. "Yes. My Alpha. Mine."

He nudged his nose against Wufei's neck, and shifted some of the pillows so he could pull Wufei to lie atop him. "Love you. Want to take you home soon."

There was a momentary unpleasant tug where they were connected, and Wufei gave a faint gasp, but once they were settled, he spread himself atop Treize comfortably, One hand rose to touch the mark of Treize's teeth, and when he finally opened his eyes, he was sleepy and clearly pleased with himself. "I love you, too."

"Rest. Rest and then I'll get water and..." And work out what else they needed. Wufei felt sweaty and loose limbed and he didn't want to lose the feeling of the other man atop him. It would take a while for his knot to loosen, in any case, and so Wufei settled against him, head pillowed on his shoulder, closing his eyes with a sigh.

He could worry about everything that needed to be dealt with... later.

* * *

Wufei wasn't sure how long it had been, but he felt like a limp dishrag -- overly warm, exhausted, sweaty, and in need of a bath. He was also fairly certain that his knees wouldn't hold him up if he tried to get up.

Treize was dozing for the moment, a hand still loosely holding onto his back. He was sprawled out beneath Wufei, which was how Wufei had mounted him the second time, and also why his knees weren't going to do anything for him other than lie there.

Everything about him felt sore and good, delicious in ways that defied explanation. If anyone had tried to explain this to him even a week ago, he would have laughed at them. There was no way to explain this without having done it, he thought, and yawned against Treize's shoulder.

"Hmn? How're you feeling?" That was a muzzy question, and Treize started to sit up slowly.

"Perfect." Yes, that was it. Just how he felt. Absolutely perfect, but he was also quite sore, and the heat was still simmering in his belly. "Hot. Sweaty. Gross."

Treize lifted a hand to stroke at Wufei's hair, smiling at him. "Is there a bathtub in here? We could use a cold one, I think."

"You'll like it. It's huge and set into the floor." It was one of the things Wufei had found to be delightful about being kept in the hòugōng.

"I'm going to find pillows like these," Treize murmured, cracking his neck in a slow roll, and starting to sit up, taking Wufei with him. The feel of Treize slipping out of him was accompanied by an embarrassing amount of fluid, and he could feel the soreness of it more explicitly then.

"I won't argue. They've been rather delightful."

Treize made a quiet noise of his own, and leaned in to kiss Wufei, mouth loose, body relaxed. "Condoms when we get home. Come, I'll get you to the bath."

Thank god, and Wufei moved off of him, definitely unsure of his knees and how well they would work. His stomach growled at the same time, and he glanced up at Treize sheepishly. "How long have we been...?" He thought it was surely no more than a day, but he wasn't certain.

"I have no idea." He laughed, and moved to the edge of the bed, gently pulling Wufei. "Let me get up and see to it."

"Don't go far." Because he might want him again, sore or not, and Wufei was sure that his expression said as much. It was still a... it was hard to explain. He wanted, he wanted so very much, to just sit on his Alpha's dick and ride him, to feel filled. To feel his knot, no matter how sore it left him. 

Treize stood up, stretched slowly, and wandered to the door, completely naked, and Wufei watched him go because why not? His ass was beautiful to see, and Wufei could see where the skin had been marked by his hands. He'd dare anyone to look at it and not _want._

He was handsome, and built, and it made Wufei want all over again. Treize knocked on the door after testing the knob, and it was answered in short order via a small slot placed in part of the filigree that adorned most of the hòugōng. A murmured conversation ensued, and Wufei shivered when it stirred air flow that made his oversensitive skin feel a little too cold.

Treize loitered by the door, rubbing a hand idly back through his hair as he was waiting for something.

Wufei's stomach growled again, and he sighed, tugging at a sheet and tucking it around himself. The light breeze was still blowing in through the slot, and it was too cold and felt all wrong. 

He was hot and wanted to be curled up in bed again with his Alpha, no other scents in the air. Then the slot shut, and the door opened, with Treize stepping back. "Ah, thank you. We need food and drink. A lot of drinks."

Wufei squeaked, jerking up the sheet and getting himself mostly covered as Meiran stepped inside, nostrils flaring. "Well. I see you've thoroughly claimed him." She sounded irritated, but Wufei thought that was just the way she sounded with Treize all the time.

Treize stepped in, and closed the door behind her, taking two glasses to bring one to Wufei first. Completely shameless about his own nudity, he did sit down close to Wufei, and he reached for the glass immediately, drinking greedily until he reached the bottom of the glass, and then held it out to Treize.

"You are so abnormal," Meiran said blankly. "Who allows another Alpha this close to your Omega when he's in heat?"

"You're no threat." Treize sipped at what Wufei discovered was juice, some kind of citrus juice. He slipped an arm lightly over Wufei's shoulders. "You're clearly fascinated with Wufei, or you wouldn't have come in here in the first place."

Oh. 

_Ohh._

Wufei's eyes were so wide when he looked at Treize that he wasn't entirely sure they weren't going to pop right out. He reached over and stole Treize's juice altogether, drinking the rest of it as easily as he had the first.

Meiran looked at both of them as if she'd been purely floored by the suggestion. "You....!"

Treize shrugged a shoulder lightly, blandly. And he let Wufei steal his juice, casually looking at Meiran. "Am I wrong?"

She was actually blushing and glaring at him. "Of course I'm fascinated," she blurted. "We were betrothed before you stole him."

"Is there more to drink?" Asking it felt a little mean, but it was fine.

"Which does make this awkward," Treize agreed, because clearly he enjoyed uncomfortable situations. "I hadn't accounted for how dehydrating this was. You were right, I don't think we would've made it back to Earth."

Raising a hand to her face, Meiran hid it in her palm. "How are you so ragingly incompetent as an Alpha when...?"

A lick of fury rose up in Wufei. "He isn't! We've never done this before!"

Fingers squeezed his shoulders lightly, soothing him as he petted, thigh pressed against Wufei's. "Not one of my chief concerns in life. So I thought I'd wait."

Wait for Wufei, presumably, and that fury settled into something warm and possibly a little too affectionate with another Alpha in the room. He was going to be needy again soon, and he shivered and hid his face against Treize.

She sighed. "I'll bring more juice. The sugar and the fluid will help with things."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't think to bring your sword back. I didn't have it with me when I was put under arrest. But I'll find a way to get it back to you." It was entirely possible that the air in the room and the press of naked thigh against him was just enough change of sensation to flip the switch for more wanting.

Damn. And he had wanted a bath.

Meiran was looking at him, gaze assessing. "He's about to go again, so I'll leave you and bring the juice back for when you're ready for it again."

"Yes, I had noticed that." There was a sly tone to Treize's voice as he inclined his head. "Thank you again."

He was plotting.

Wufei didn't know precisely what he was plotting, but he was definitely plotting.

When the door shut behind Meiran, Wufei looked at him, brows knit. "What are you up to?"

"I haven't entirely worked it out yet," Treize admitted, turning his attention to Wufei, eyes bright. "Leaving doors open."

That just made him suspicious. "You're clearly enjoying it far too much when you should be enjoying me." Or taking him to bathe so that he didn't feel disgusting and then enjoying him again. Either way.

Treize kissed beneath Wufei's ear, and then stood again, dragging Wufei to his feet. "Show me this bath."

His knees shook just a bit before they seemed to decide that walking was actually quite fine if it got him clean. "This way." All the way through the large room with the beds and sofas and into a space that let out onto the garden with a door that could actually be opened as opposed to one of the ones that locked. There were very sharp wrought iron spikes atop the garden wall.

Treize inhaled slowly, as if the garden startled him. "This is very nice... for a kidnapping."

"I was insulted by the notion of being locked away at first," Wufei confessed, stopping to kneel down and set the water running. "But it is rather nice."

"I am puzzled as to the actual motive." Revenge, attempting to right the world; there were so many options. Treize looked around as he stroked fingers over Wufei's back, lingering down to the curve of his ass. Wufei felt sticky, wet, desperately in need of a bath and a rising and desperate need for fucking.

Wufei shrugged. He didn't have an answer and he wasn't in the right frame of mind to think about it. The water was just right, cool enough that it would be soothing, warm enough that it wouldn't make his skin ache to be in it. "I don't know."

Treize pressed against his back, leaning in to kiss the back of his neck as he gently slipped two fingers into his ass. "I wanted to fuck you flat against the bed in front of them."

He whined, lip bitten. "In. In front. In front of whom?" Oh, that was lovely. Those fingers felt so good, and everything was just a bit sore and utterly perfect. Fuck.

"Pilot 05. I thought they were perhaps male, but maybe not..." He was very gentle as he eased them in and out, banking the heat in Wufei’s belly just a little. God, he wanted.

"She's a she." That much was sure, he knew. "Her Omega was male. Vain, waist length hair, glasses." Wufei's wasn't nearly so long, although he was thinking of letting it grow. Why not? "Ohhhh."

"She has a sort of type, then. But she didn’t touch you." Treize was playing it through in his mind, smiling to himself, Wufei could hear it in his voice as he kissed at the back of Wufei’s neck while the water crept up.

Wufei whined. "N-no. No, I wanted, I said it was you. It was just you." Because Wufei loved him, adored him, wanted him, and if this didn't end with him bent over the lip of the tub knotted into oblivion, he was going to be so angry.

"Into the water," Treize urged, voice falling softer. It wasn’t a command, but it also wasn’t anything he wanted to argue with because it was just what he wanted. "I want you again."

Ohhh, yes. Yes, yes, so much, and so Wufei scrambled into the tub, splashing water across the marble, and god, but that felt good.

Treize slipped into the tub behind him, sighing at the temperature, and then he was pressed up against Wufei as the knelt in the water, palming Wufei’s belly. "You’re ravenous for more."

Yes. Yes, he was, and Wufei crawled onto his lap, knees aching against the marble. "It's heating up again." He ached, fuck, he wanted, and so he leaned in and kissed Treize, desperate and hot. "Mmmmm."

"Tell me what it feels like." Treize kissed against his neck again, biting sucks that made him shiver and want more. His hands stroked down Wufei’s sides, teasing him, and Wufei's hips couldn't stop rocking because he was absolutely in need.

"Which bit? Wanting you? It feels, it feels like nothing in the world is right until you're in me and that I'll die if you don't give it to me."

"Think about what you want to do after the war." He kissed Wufei again, stroking his erection in a way that made Wufei want to mount him immediately, and there didn't seem to be any reason not to.

He shifted, turning around and glancing over his shoulder, mouth quirking into a smirk. "Later," he promised, because fuck, yes, later, right now he just wanted this, all of this.

He wanted the thick press of his Alpha’s dick into his ass, the stretch of it slowly opening him up, the clutch of fingers at his hip as he pushed Wufei up against the edge of the embedded tub, and he wanted it now. Now, and Treize obviously knew it from the look on his face, so he backed up closer, waiting and wanting. He knew what to expect now as far as feeling went, but it still surprised him when Treize got comfortable behind him, moving lazily to kiss his neck and shoulders while he positioned the head of his cock.

Wufei sank back, and ohhh, fuuuck, that was. That was so good, his whole body aching and he let out a low throaty groan at being filled, a shudder rippling through him.

"Never knotted before. Never understood what it felt like to go this deep..." Treize pulled him tight, wrapped his arms around him, and he felt warm pressed against Wufei. "Fuck."

He couldn't stop working his hips, even when his eyes were rolling back with the sheer pleasure of it. "Oh. Oh, oh, oh god." Yes, and he loved every thick pulsing inch of cock inside of him.

Loved when Treize pulled back from him and pushed it all the way in again, loved the rocking counterpoint to his own motions. The water was lapping at the edges, and Wufei could only gasp and not care, not in the least. If it all splashed over, it would just sluice down into the gardens, and he laughed, the sound soft and pleasured, feeling victorious for some reason.

He didn't know why, but he had everything he wanted except he wasn't home. And that would be fixed soon enough, once the desperate urge to be fucked ebbed down. Treize pulled him closer, keeping him from bumping too much against the edge of the tub, more skin to skin feeling as he thrust and the water spilled, and Wufei laughed again, pushing back hard to take him in because he had definitely won, this was the best possible outcome of, well. Everything. Absolutely everything, and he pushed back to him, wanting more, more, more.

Giddy, he fell into a rhythm, stretched out and aching and losing track of things a little when they knotted again because that was so full, and Treize's hand stroking his dick steadily, firmly, still trying to fuck him even when it was hard to move.

By the time they settled back into the water carefully, Wufei was exhausted and full and dazed, and so pleased with himself that it was preposterous. He had the best Alpha, there was no question of it, and he sighed, grateful that Treize had taken care to knot him while they were above the water, the way slick and easy and not washed away without care. It was a good contrast, warm water and skin, Treize holding him tightly back against his chest. "You're lovely, wonderful and mine."

Yes. Yes, he was that, and Wufei melted against him. "And you're mine." The thought of biting him in return was... yes. Yes. He wanted to do that. He just needed to get himself turned around. Not quite yet, because he was enjoying the idle way Treize pinched one nipple. That was lovely. "I want to bite you." It wasn't typical in their culture, but Wufei was getting the idea that nothing about either of them was typical.

It got him a nuzzling kiss behind his ear, and he swore he felt Treize twitch inside of him, trying to keep himself still. "Wherever you want."

Wufei wrapped an arm behind him, hand stroking at the back of Treize's neck. "I wish everyone could be as happy in their mating as we are."

"Hopefully you don't grow bored of living with me. You're going to have a very high profile." He shifted just a little, and they were balancing like that, just on the edge. One wrong or right move, and they'd both tip over to trying to fuck desperately.

There was no stopping the way he smiled. "I think," he said, "that I won't ever get tired of being with you."

"I will hold you to it." Treize leaned in a little, kissing him and shifting his hips just enough to tug at the knot and push at it, making Wufei whine a little at the feeling.

"Mmmm, yes. Please do." He wasn't ready to go again just yet. Everything felt too full, too... well. He was drowsy from the water and the fucking, and they'd been taught that sleeping when they wanted or needed to was important during this time. Perhaps he could just drift off right where he was.

Treize wouldn't mind, didn't mind anything much, it seemed, and he leaned back in the tub, cradling Wufei against him. "Rest. This is hard on your body."

"And yours." He needed more fluid, Wufei thought, but he closed his eyes and settled back sleepily all the same.

* * *

Treize was fairly sure his dick was chapped.

It seemed impossible, but perhaps not, and if his dick was chapped it was no wonder Wufei was sleepy and achy, though he had eaten breakfast quite well. He hadn't been eager for another round after, and to the touch at least he didn't feel feverish to Treize.

Four days of rampant sex in which they had napped in between bouts or eaten hurried meals or... well. There had been a lot of sex, and Wufei was sleeping on his belly for now because apparently that helped.

His dick probably felt chapped, too.

It left them both exhausted, though if Wufei managed to go a few more hours, Treize was seriously considering flying back home. Chapped bits or not.

He was dreadfully afraid that he'd knocked Wufei up, but that was something to think about for later. Much later. When it was inescapably obvious, for example.

Right before the delivery, perhaps.

When the siren went off, it startled them both, enough that Wufei pushed straight up from sleeping to stare at Treize in fear. "What, what's going on?"

"It's a warning siren. We're being attacked." He bolted to his feet, looking for his trousers and his boots. "Fuck, fuck..."

"Attacked?" Wufei sounded blank and then fearful, staring at him, pale and stunned. "What are you doing? Where are you...?"

"I'm going to my mech." He grabbed his uniform jacket so at least he'd have padding, and stumbled into his boots before hitting the door to slam a fist on it. "I can help fight, open the door!"

"Treize!" Wufei was still there, sheet wrapped around him. "I won't ask you not to go." No, he wouldn't. He knew very well what Treize did. "Be careful."

"I'll be careful." He had more than himself to be worried about, and he'd had Wufei to worry about since he had chosen him. Constantly at the back of his mind that if something happened to him in his usual callous disregard for self, it wouldn't just happen to him.

The door opened, and the man there was huge, even for a man of Treize's stature. "Liung Meiran has already left. I will show you the way to Tallgeese II." He glanced behind Treize, and then glanced away again. "The guards will remain so you have no reason to worry."

"Thank you." It was only a passing concern, given how polite and proper everyone had been so far. He stepped away from the hòugōng with one last look over his shoulder at Wufei before he moved to follow the man. There was no way he could fit into a cockpit, given that some days they had worried about Zechs fitting in one.

When they reached the hangar where 05's mech had clearly been stored, Treize wasted no time. He was making his way up to the cockpit before the large man could tell him anything one way or the other because he needed to get out there fast enough to defend the colony and everyone on it.

One mech wouldn't be enough. 05 was good, but they were going to be outnumbered, Treize knew. If it was an OZ movement, a Romefeller attack, there would be swarms.

He powered up Tallgeese, securing the five point harness much to his chagrin before he launched out of the cockpit. He glanced down at the man, who was pointing to tell him out of what port it was safe to launch, and Treize followed the instruction, moving into the airlock and waiting for it to seal before it opened into space.

He could see and feel the concussive bursts of explosions immediately. There were swarms of Libras everywhere, just everywhere, so he started to attack them because he had never fielded Libras with human pilots. Just Leos. The Libras weren't fully tested for long term flight. They almost had to be mobile dolls of some variety, and he wouldn't feel bad if they turned into nothing more than trash.

They moved in a way that was scripted and boring, which was precisely what he expected. They weren't able to keep up with human pilots, they could only ever achieve victory over them by piling on until they managed to exhaust a real pilot past the point of dealing with them.

There weren't enough of them here even to make a start. Not when he was able to provide backup, slashing through them and firing when he needed to, looking for 05 in the field. They didn't have comms, and he just had to hope the pilot didn't shoot at him.

It was all boring and rote, the kind of fight that he might have organized to teach second years how to attack a particularly poorly trained pilot. He hadn't approved of mobile dolls on land, and he certainly didn't approve of them now. They were less than impressive, and Treize's irritation grew greater; not anger, no, they weren't even worth that much, only irritation. This was the new way of war? This was the way to bring more death to civilians and threaten land without facing any weight of loss on one's own side other than materiel? No, that was not how the world was going to go, and that was why he needed to go back. It was madness. 

It was useless.

And then his irritation did bloom into anger, and he yelled aloud, beginning a flurry of fighting movements that would put an end to all of this because none of these things were worth the metal that had been used to make them. It was a waste of good metal, of skilled labor, of factory hours that could be spent instead to service the needs of the colonies forced to build them. There was no glory in their use, no outcome worth noting, no impact on humanity except death. 

And then there were just the two mechs in the field of wreckage, and the colony behind them. He wondered for a moment if this was where they would end up, battling one another for clearly stupid reasons, and then the other mech swept into something like a bow before beginning its return to the colony.

God, he did like that pilot. 

Just a delight.

He followed, waited his turn to re-enter the colony, headed back to the hangar. The battle had been baffling, not exhausting, just -- why had they sent such a force against L5 after so long?

He made it back to the hangar and could see 05 dropping down to the hangar floor. Treize followed in short order, only to find that a wizened little old woman had made her way into the room. She was clearly an Alpha; he could smell it on her. She smelled quite a lot like 05, just older and thus more powerful.

"We fought them off, Nǎinai, but they'll come at us again." 05 was firm about it, frowning. "I can't leave you unprotected."

Treize approached them both and kept an unthreatening distance, though he knew he looked and felt like a comparative shambles. "I think it's time I go. It's time to address this directly."

The dark brown eyes looking at him were nearly identical, one pair old and rheumy, the other young and sharp. He could see the structure of their faces and how 05 would age, if they lived. She lived, he recalled, and then the two looked at one another as if somehow communicating between them.

He tilted his head slightly, trying to work out what they were thinking or agreeing on. "Hmn?"

"What are you going to do to address it?" The old woman's voice creaked, a rusty hinge.

"I'm going back there to flip who's in charge again." He smiled at her, because it was a perilous tight line to walk, but he had the general hang of it. "I have support. I have enough to do what needs to be done."

They looked at one another again.

"Nǎinai," 05 spoke slowly, "I cannot leave you undefended."

"Defend us the best way you can. Take the fight to them." She was a firm voiced woman, full of determination as she nodded to herself.

The look on 05's face was full of affection and worry. "And what will you do if they come again?"

"We will fight back. You have left us a suit, and it can be flown." He had seen it fly, yes.

"You know it isn't ready." 05's expression was pained. "You know Mu Tsu died in it."

"The Tallgeese." Treize absently tried to button his jacket, pondering it as glanced to where he could see the palace in the distance. "Do you have another pilot?"

The elder woman raised a hand to indicate the large man who had come to fetch him. "We have trained one pilot. We have continued to train others while you have been gone in case we reached a point of desperation. There are parts scattered in nearby space. We will find them and bring them in and use them appropriately to repair the suits that remained from the previous attack. We will be fine."

"Then I think it's time to upset the balance of power." Again. He felt excited, excited to get Wufei back to Earth, excited to see what he could do now that he was free of the house arrest that had given him time to work out the next acts of the play.

05 nodded to the older woman, who returned the motion only once. "I'm coming with you."

He didn't bat an eye, because it seemed to have been heading that way. "We'll meet back here in a couple of hours, then. We'll head to Romefeller headquarters. I have men who'll be there."

And that was that.

He wasn't sure why 05 had made that decision; it would make more sense to stay or to meet the other pilots, he would have thought. He wasn't going to argue about it. The support was welcome, needed, and he was struggling to imagine a world where there was any possibility of 05 siding with Romefeller, which made him at least a temporary ally. 

He held onto that thought as he made his way back to the palace, to gather Wufei up into good enough shape to transport. It would be cramped, but they should be able to make it back to Earth, and re-entry would be a bitch with two of them, but they would manage.

They would be fine. It was one step closer to where they needed to be. He stopped and waited for the guards to open the door as he got closer, and thanked them.

Wufei had taken the opportunity to bathe and dress in the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd been taken from the Brussels Finishing School and he looked amazing -- slim, well put together, ridiculously attractive to Treize's affectionate gaze. "I knew you would be successful."

"We're leaving in two hours, if you think you can bear the transit." They honestly needed a recovery day or two but now there was an urgency to act. It was a chance he couldn't waste. "Meiran is coming with us."

That sparked something in Wufei, although Treize couldn't tell what. Nervousness, perhaps. "Yes. I can manage if you can." His jaw was set, brows pulled together. "Are we sure that it's the best course and that she wouldn't be more needed here? If they're attacking, then that cannot be a good sign."

"No, but if they keep to an entirely defensive footing I don't think they'll last. They do have the Tallgeese, and at least one other trained pilot." Treize tipped his head slightly, and added, "And a scientist."

Wufei eyed him. "Oh, yes. That sounds like a fair fighting chance, all right."

"I'm taking control of OZ again." More than that, but it could wait until they had survived the reentry. "That's better than just staging a defense line."

"So you'll be able to keep them from coming here," Wufei murmured, and when he glanced out into the garden, Treize knew he was thinking about the family he had there, even if he felt strange about them.

"Yes. I'm tired of playing by their rules. The system is broken." He had flipped one system, and he could flip another. Having a pilot on his side was... unexpectedly beneficial, and Wufei looked so proud of him. He hoped he'd live up to that.

Stepping forward, Wufei's fingers wound in his own. "Let's return to Earth, then."

"Just bear with me if it gets a little strange," he murmured, squeezing those fingers. Wufei's fingers were warm and dry and strong. "I have plans and we'll see if I can draw them all together now. Can't make the moves for other people, though."

"No," Wufei agreed. "But you can con them into thinking they've made their own." Treize was quite good at that, in fact.

It startled him to hear that, and left a warm feeling in his chest because oh yes. Yes, just that, that was what he did. Treize smiled widely at Wufei, squeezing his hand. "You are amazing. Just so."

Stepping closer, Wufei leaned up and pressed his mouth tenderly to Treize's. "Take me home with you," he murmured. "We'll be scandalous together, you, the General of OZ, and me, your stolen Companion whose virtue will forever be questioned."

"Not by me." He kissed him slowly, pressing fingers against the small of Wufei's back to pin him in place better. "We'll have to pick a home. I have a catalogue of real estate, it's baffling. But once the war is settled."

"You will be careful? Be safe?" Wufei was looking up at him, and that was so complex, full of all sorts of different fears and also a number of certainties.

"I will not leave you trapped and in a poor position. I will do my best." He didn't try to distract, just held Wufei's gaze.

Wufei shook his head. "I don't care about that. I just want for you to live." And that was going to be the hard part, no doubt.

"Then I will try very hard to continue to live. We haven't properly gotten to enjoy ourselves." There was so much more possibility, and oddly he didn't want to have to end things before he'd gotten to lie around with his Companion and read books, to have lazy breakfasts in bed and spend an afternoon riding or building something interesting.

Taking Treize's hand, Wufei pressed a kiss against his palm. "Shall we, then?"

Something about that was lovely, struck him a little. That he could.. have that forever. Instead of a daily grind of paperwork. Or at least with a daily grind of paperwork. "Yes."

Yes.

Yes.

* * *

Wufei never would have thought that being in a mobile suit as it rampaged through mobile dolls would be so ultimately thrilling. He would have been quite wrong.

The mobile suit jerked left and right and upside down, he thought, which made him grateful for the harness on harness Treize had rigged before they'd departed. Listening to the comms was fascinating as Treize coordinated with short quick phrases to the units near him, Leos and Meiran's Gundam, as they coordinated through the mobile dolls -- both in space and on the ground. Wufei's heart was racing, and he was mostly trying to stay still as Treize worked the controls and foot pedals.

He thought that perhaps he quite wanted to learn to do it for himself.

It wasn't that it seemed like fun; dear god, that was clearly not the case. It was just that he wanted to be able to defend the people he loved, and that made it seem like a very good reason, all told. The thought that he might be told no never crossed his mind. It wasn't even a passing risk, though it wasn't a convenient time to start learning. Later. 

They seemed to have cleared the field, and then everyone dismounted the Gundams and mobile suits from dizzying heights, and it made Wufei very glad he had never been afraid of heights.The trip to the ground was quick and easy, and led to a rather large and boring lawn with a few wild trees and something like a pond. Nothing worth writing home about, he would say. It reminded him of the conference center on the outskirts of the city, dull and unimaginative. They advanced on the building, and soldiers manning the door stepped aside and gestured to bands on their arms, subtle changes to their uniforms that had pleased Treize as he walked with his people inside.

Wufei remained two steps behind him, hands tucked at the small of his back as he kept pace. No one seemed inclined to ask any questions, and he was fairly sure his mode of dress answered all of them, in any case. When he had been taken, he had made certain to choose colors that would speak as loudly as he was not being allowed to speak, and so his waistcoat and frock coat were both in royal blue with gold accents, the trousers white, the boots near to his knees.

Meiran had been angry then and was probably angry that time, seeing him dressed like one of them and not like someone from L5. 

They made steady progress, Treize leading the way, where he threw the doors open to a small meeting room.

There were a number of people seated at the table, some of the faces familiar and some of them less so, but all of them looking up at Treize in something like a bland lack of surprise which probably meant that they had been quite surprised when they realized he had come to Bremen to fight.

"General Khushrenada," an older man greeted.

"Gentlemen. I relieve you of the burden of deciding what to do about White Fang and Prince Peacecraft." He stood still while the soldiers filtered into the room at either side of the widely opened doors.

"Now see here," one man began, only to find an elbow smacking into his side. Wufei rather thought it was for the best.

"You're collapsing. You can flee gracefully now, or you can lose everything. Take it as a politeness." Treize smiled warmly at them, gesturing for them to leave, and for a moment, Wufei honestly thought that a couple of them might object to the sheer high-handedness. Fortunately, they had friends who quite obviously planned to keep them from devaluing their own lives and everyone exited with their eyes cast aside as if looking at Treize would bring down his wrath.

It wouldn't, Wufei thought, but when he glanced up and saw the steel in that sapphirine gaze, he reconsidered. It might well.

That should not be nearly so attractive.

The room emptied out, with soldiers following them, leaving Wufei and Treize there.

And Meiran.

"I'll give this a moment and then go in search of Relena," Treize said quietly. "She's been making the best of a bad situation."

Wufei nodded. "I could go and get her."

Meiran snorted. "Alone? In a building full of people who are probably angry about what just happened? I think not."

Something about that made Treize smile. "Hmn, no, I'll go to her. She deserves that much respect. She'll have heard the noise outside."

Wufei managed not to hiss in fury, just barely. He wasn't defenseless; he was very much prepared to fight someone if necessary, whether that meant hand to hand or with a sword. The fact that Meiran seemed to assume that he wasn't just... no. Then again, Meiran had managed to talk him into climbing out a window with her, mostly against his will.

Treize lingered by the window, looking out of it and seeming to think. "They weakened themselves when I stepped down. Their flagrant use of mobile dolls and poorly plotted plans has cost them support everywhere and led to a surge of White Fang."

"I don't entirely disagree with their goal." Meiran moved to stand beside him, looking out over the extended lawn. "Just their methods. Killing that many people is... distasteful."

"Quinze systematically murdered the honest pacifists in the colonies. The Yuys and their associates, the Peacecrafts. And somehow he's talked Zechs into working with them. Their goal is to subjugate Earth to the colonies -- is that what you want?" Treize's posture was relaxed, calm, and he turned a little to invite Wufei in close.

Meiran shrugged. "Their original goal was to free the colonies from their oppressors. I have no urge to subjugate the Earth, but we've been under your thumbs for a very long time," she pointed out.

"Murdered all of the pacifists who are actually doing the work to get the colonies rights," Treize reiterated, setting a hand on Wufei's side, comfortable and close. "Public and private goals can often be very different. Particularly now that they've declared war on the Earth."

Her face went hard, set. "I don't like the intimations of their plans."

As well she shouldn't in Wufei's opinion. Killing someone was never the appropriate answer.

Treize spread his fingers on Wufei's side, and then glanced down to check his watch. It was a comfortable feeling, not quite sheltering and protective. "Good. I'll go find Relena now. Come with me, Wufei?"

"Of course." He would never have been brought to a battle site if their situation hadn't been what it was, but it was good to know and understand what Treize lived day to day, how it worked. It felt right somehow.

And Treize wanted to share that with him. It wasn't something to be kept from Wufei. He appreciated that. Treize stepped away from the window. "I won't use you as a showpiece, Meiran. You choose when you want to be seen here, and what you want to do. I'll have to make a statement next."

Her nod was short, sharp, and her eyes lingered on Wufei for a long moment before she turned away from them. Wufei placed his hand against Treize's as they turned to find Relena Peacecraft, the Queen of the World.

Treize seemed to know the layout of the place intimately. He led the way down a hallway and up a staircase. Wufei could have walked the halls; the chaos seemed calm, and they only passed two soldiers on their side, walking a man in a frilly shirt and breeches down the hallway. They reached a closed door, and Treize knocked quietly. "Queen Relena."

Her voice, when it came, was as calm and placid as anything Wufei could imagine. "You may enter."

Treize pushed the door open smoothly, and stepped in with Wufei. She was seated at a dressing table, as if she had been getting ready for a meeting. She was gorgeous, in the way that made Wufei think of statues back in Brussels. "Queen Relena, my apologies for interrupting. I am relieving you of your duties."

"Are you?" She turned to him, one eyebrow raised. "Hm. And you've brought your Omega. That is rather remarkable."

Wufei couldn't help feeling slightly flustered. He supposed it was quite obvious, but all the same, it did feel strange and different. "Yes."

"Wufei." Treize flashed a smile, or teeth, and stepped into the room. "You won't need to fight your brother this way. Since he won't be surrendering."

It was quite different, really, to find an Alpha who was inclined toward peace in quite the way that the Queen of the World had been. Historically, they were much more inclined toward war and fighting, but here she was, as atypical as Treize was, in his way.

"I would rather not fight him, it's true. He's been led astray, I fear." Her hands were clenched in her lap. "Damn White Fang."

"He thinks he's going to make the world a better place this way." Treize said it with a slight shrug of his shoulders, as if it were understandable. "You might be able to talk sense into him. He's... struggled."

Her eyes weren't as blue as Treize's, but they were no less piercing somehow. "He was much older than I was when Sanc fell. He has an unfortunate history, and the instability of his life certainly has not been anything that would make him less inclined to being sucked in by someone wanting him to... to be the face of some new horror, I fear."

There was no reek of Alpha, just a subtle awareness of it as they talked. No particular posturing, either. None of the men in the room had postured, either, even when they had been struggling to decide to leave peacefully or not.

He wondered if it was something they were taught. "Change the world. Overthrow the status quo. I know Mirialdo has a good heart, Queen Relena."

"And an unfortunate predisposition to the maladies of our ancestors, I fear." She sighed. "I suppose I should be thankful that the madness only tends to run in the male line."

Ah, yes. Wufei had quite forgotten about that. It did show up in the strangest ways. For example, he was fairly certain that her great-grandfather had been obsessed with rather risqué postcards and had been inclined to show them to everyone regardless of the appropriateness of the venue.

"We are all grateful for that -- the world will need you when this is over." That was a hard statement to parse, though they hadn't had time to discuss Treize's long term plans. Their long term plans.

Wufei wondered quite sincerely what they were. He couldn't imagine that Treize would be the type of person to walk away from politics and his duties, but Wufei also rather hoped that he would be the sort of man who came home every night and played with their children. Eventually.

Dear god, please let it be eventually.

"And you as well, I suspect. We will see," she murmured, and it seemed that they had reached some accord between them.

"I'll leave you in privacy to pack." He turned slightly, and added, "Yuy's going to be in space by now. I'll keep an eye out for him."

And she _blushed_ , which was absolutely fascinating. He wasn't precisely sure about whom Treize was speaking, but he'd lay odds on their secondary gender in a heartbeat. "Ah, and if you also happen to run into a beta with a frankly appalling amount of hair..." Her voice trailed off, but the blush intensified.

"Oh, the fake priest. Yes. Yes, still kicking. I'll remember that." Treize's voice sounded like an honest thing, making a note of it as he turned with a wave. "Good luck on your mission."

"And the same to you." Her glance fell on Wufei and dropped to his belly for just a second. He shivered, hand tightening on Treize's where he held it. "And your future."

"Thank you." Treize turned, and not even half a pull of fingers got Wufei moving out into the hallway, because that had been a distinct look right at his belly. What the hell, what did that even. "You need to rest and I need to arrange my statement."

"I'm not tired." The protest was sharp, and he felt as if his gaze were even sharper as it cut straight to Treize. "I should be beside you."

"You will be. I was concerned you found re-entry tiring. _I_ find it tiring," he confessed, leading Wufei down the hallway. "I broke my back once coming down badly, and caught a missile for my trouble."

Oh, that... that was all right, then. Possibly. "That sounds horrifying," Wufei confessed as they made their way back downstairs and toward the meeting room where they had left Meiran. He relaxed, and was startled to find himself suppressing a yawn. Sleep had been in short supply for some time, now that he thought about it, but he'd be damned if he said as much.

There was work to be done, and Treize pulled a datapad out of his jacket pocket as they walked. "It was. It makes me wary of the transition between space and atmosphere, or space and the colonies. Do you mind if I send out a few notes and then take a nap?"

"Not at all." Because then he could safely nap with him, and that would be much more acceptable than being sent for a nap like a child. "I'll go with you, then." He didn't want to be without Treize.

He couldn't quite explain it; it was a low level urge, an interest. Perhaps it was the honeymoon phase, but he wanted to be close to Treize even as they re-entered the meeting room and Treize veered a little for the sofa on the far side. "Meiran, I'll be making a speech in the next two hours. You're welcome to be there."

"As you like." She was still watching the people outside, her glance only falling on them once before moving away again.

"And in another day, we will take the battle to White Fang." That didn't sound safe, it didn't sound reassuring at all, but Wufei went with Treize to the sofa, where the man pulled at and moved cushions like he had done it a hundred times before, and sprawled out, beckoning Wufei to join him.

He crawled into place, settling so that he was lying on Treize as much as he was on the sofa, and when he put his cheek against Treize's chest, he couldn't keep the yawn back between his teeth anymore.

"It's been a long day and it isn't over yet." Treize shifted a leg, and they fit together so well. Smoothly. He barely noticed the waft of Alpha when Meiran left the room, just one more strangeness in a very long day.

* * *

He was, in some technical sense, king of the world. Or dictator or the world. He had spent a couple of hours conferring with his men, his units, and he had a plan in place. They had eaten, and Meiran had scowled while he caught her up, but she also hadn't left, which was interesting and telling.

And then he took Wufei to the newly vacated lead quarters to rest after making sure Meiran had rooms.

They'd had a nap -- more like Wufei had napped and Treize had fretted. He was still fretting, but Wufei was in the bath now, a bit put out that Treize hadn't joined him. Treize had pointed out that he was surely still oversensitive because Treize was, and that had been sufficient to make him roll his eyes and go into the bathroom alone.

It bought him time to call Bedelia, dialing her up and checking mentally that it was evening but not too late; she'd be free of her daily tasks, but not yet asleep.

He hadn't meant to knot Wufei, hadn't meant to do anything the first time or two or three without a condom and him on suppressors just to lower the likelihood of an accident.

Everything was the absolute opposite of what he had planned and then some. If he happened to be panicking, well. Anyone with sense would be.

The phone rang through, and Treize gave an unsteady sigh of relief, his palm covering his face for a moment. He hadn't realized until just then how his lack of knowledge and understanding had been worrying him.

 _"Good evening, General. Good of you to call."_ Of course she knew it would be him.

"I've located Wufei." Which was obvious if she had watched his speech that had overrun all of the active data streams on the planet. It was a bizarre mess, but it felt a lot like formalizing one's will just before going into battle. Actually, that was rather what it was. Just in case. "And I need the paperwork closing things out finished as soon as humanly possible. How has the school been?"

 _"Much better guarded, thank you."_ Because once his Companion had been stolen, she had come up in fury at his step-grandfather, damn his soul, and as a result, he had sent the soldiers Treize had set there back to their jobs. At least there was that. _"Although most of the eldest Companions have, of course, been taken home early by their Benefactors."_

"Of course. I don't blame them." He still should have taken Wufei home, but... ah. There was no time for that. "We're going to need everything retroactively dated to, hmn, last Friday. His heat came in as soon as I arrived."

 _"...oh, dear."_ The pause before she spoke was absolutely audible.

"Oh dear?" he repeated, trying to tease that response out.

 _"Oh dear, I hope you're ready to be a father,"_ she advised, voice Sahara dry.

He tipped his head down, fingers still pressed against his face. "We did have to re-enter atmo. How soon would it be worth running tests?"

Bedelia seemed to consider the matter. _"Wait a week or two. Then you can be significantly more certain, although if you didn't use preventive methods, the likelihood of it is significantly higher."_

"Thank you. Anything you could do for us on the paperwork side of things would be appreciated. He was -- it was his biological family. He was well cared for." He rubbed a thumb slowly over his temple, half listening to the sounds of water in the bathroom.

 _"Of course. I'll prepare them in short order and get them to you by courier within the week."_ Efficient, truth be told, and Treize let out a shaky sigh. Well. At least there was that done.

"In the event I'm injured or otherwise incapacitated..." It was forgery, yes, but he had selected the school for a reason. They _understood_ people who were stuck working within the system.

 _"Naturally."_ That was a weight off of his mind, then, and he didn't bother stopping the breath of relief that broke loose from him.

"Thank you. If you ever need anything... just let me know." He meant that truly, because she made what could have been an agonizing ordeal very simple. Clean.

 _"Oh, I will."_ That was how the world worked; favors given meant there were favors to be returned. The important part was knowing oneself and one's compatriots and never granting favors to anyone whose return request would be beyond the pale.

Owing a favor to someone who had a vested interest in keeping their system both functional and seeded with justice, well. That would be painless when it was eventually called in. "Thank you again. I'll let you get on with your evening."

They rang off in short order, and Treize rubbed his hand over his face. Well. That was certainly not what he'd wanted to hear, but it was absolutely what he had expected. Well. He'd have to be more careful of things, which meant that he would have to be more careful with himself, as well, because Wufei would demand it.

Treize set his down datapad and shrugged out of his uniform, stripped down to shirt and trousers by the time he knocked on the bathroom door. Maybe he could join Wufei in the bath, though he didn't want to stir up any last vestiges of heat there might be left.

"Done so soon?" Wufei crossed his arms on the edge of the tub, chin resting on it. He could see the sleepiness of that gaze from the warmth of the water and the long day.

It made him want to get into the tub, and damn the risk because it was far too late to worry about that. He started to unbutton his shirt. "Yes. I've spoken with Bedelia to get everything straightened out."

That knowing dark grey gaze fell on him. "Hmm. Yes. I'm sure she was already prepared for it, just in case. Headmistress is frequently ahead of... well. everything."

"She's very good at her job." Treize hung his shirt on the back of the door, and having already abandoned his boots, the pants were easy to skim off. He had definitely sweated into both and then had it dry at least twice in the last twenty-four hours of wearing them. His sense of time zones had been ruined. They had about one good sleep standing between them and getting back into his mobile suit to fight again. "I uh. Asked her about your heat. I hope you don't mind, I'm rather, well. I'm going to blame it on poor upbringing."

Wufei made a face, the squinch of it saying more than words. "Let's not think about it yet. I don't..." His voice trailed off into quiet for a moment. "I'm not ready to think about it."

He stepped closer to the tub, sliding fingers over Wufei's hair just before he moved to slip into the tub behind Wufei. There was room, but not the excessive amount he preferred. "I think we should talk about it," he countered quietly, careful to not use even a hint of the voice. "Atmospheric re-entry under those circumstances were... rough."

Wufei settled against him, caught in the cradle between his thighs. "It's too late to do anything about it now," Wufei pointed out, eyes closing as he let out a sigh. "So we'll just have to see."

He coaxed Wufei to lean back against his chest, and sank down in the water a little further himself. "In a few weeks, we'll see what the test says. What..." No, it was no good, it was an area where he was uniformly terrible talking about. It was nicer to pet Wufei's chest idly, and look for the soap. "Hmn. How would you like to handle this in the future?"

"Sensibly," Wufei murmured. "With all of the possible birth control unless we decide otherwise."

He exhaled a breath he hadn't been sure he was holding. "Oh good. Good. I'd hoped we'd have some time together before... worrying about children. We're both young." Wufei was younger still than him, though the age gap wasn't obscene. Six years or so wasn't that odd.

"It isn't that I don't... well. But I'm not in any way ready now. And regardless of atmo entry, it's done now so perhaps if we're lucky it won't be an issue." That was quite true but it didn't make Treize worry any less.

"I don't feel ready, either. I'd... wanted time to get to a better place before embarking on that adventure." He petted at Wufei's chest, and closed his eyes, leaning his shoulders back against the edge of the tub. It set his nerves on edge.

"Don't think about it," Wufei murmured, one hand shifting to rest on his own. "I'm not. Better just to relax a bit and wash and sleep."

He sighed, trying to let go. It was, of course, the best course of action, but he was wound up. "I raised Vingt for a while, until things got so bad at home that the family finally intervened. I... would like some time off with just you." If they got through what he'd just done.

"Then we'll just have to hope for the best." Which was true, only he was a bit afraid as to what precisely that meant, in the end. Any sensible person would be worried about whether or not they'd fetched up, as it were, and ignoring it and hoping it wouldn't happen seemed preposterous.

"I do want to have children with you. Eventually." It felt important to point that out, it was just. Headspace and timing, and he was about to go into battle. And Wufei felt warm and comfortable against him, and he smelled right.

He smelled perfect.

"Eventually," Wufei agreed, and Treize knew that they both knew eventually was probably now, but talking about it at the moment didn't seem to be the thing to do. Neither of them wanted to think or talk about it, not right now, even if they should.

It was better to see the outcome of the test after he had gone to battle against his oldest friend. Who was an exceptional pilot, while Treize thought of himself as a mediocre one, reliant on his brain more than reflexes. "I'm going to be a very angry ghost if this goes badly."

The quiet that came by way of answer lasted for longer than was comfortable. "I want to go with you. I know I'm not experienced enough to help. I'd like to be." Because that was something Omegas had done centuries ago -- gone to protect their Alphas' backs, and everyone knew that nothing was more dangerous than an Omega when their Alpha had been attacked.

"We can work on that after this. This is... a multi-party battle and things will be moving very fast." He didn't want to say no, but it was the sort of thing he had trained for his whole life.

"I know." Wufei clearly didn't like it, though. "Will there be somewhere safe and close by?"

Treize bent his left leg at the knee, a little more contact with Wufei. "I'll put you in the command center with Lady Une. Would that suit you?"

One of Wufei's hands came to rest on Treize's knee, thumb caressing over it. "No. But then, nothing that parts us will suit me. I will take it, though."

"That's novel," Treize murmured, enjoying that idle touch. "Command center will be the safest place for you if you want to be nearby."

"I would much rather you were at the command center, as well." Yes, he likely would, but things being what they were, he would take what he could get, clearly.

He let his head rest back against the tile wall, and hummed in agreement. "Morale is low; if I don't lead from the front, we won't get anywhere."

The way Wufei's fingers clenched said everything that needed saying. "I understand."

"When this is over, we'll pick one of the houses to settle into. Your choice -- I'm fond of all of them," Treize said, going for the obvious distraction.

"It doesn't matter where," Wufei murmured, and he seemed sleepy again. "It only matters that you're there."

"That's terribly sweet and romantic of you, but pragmatically..." He let his voice fall to teasing as he petted at Wufei's chest. "Here, let me soap up and then we'll sleep."

"Pragmatically," Wufei replied, sitting up so that Treize could bathe them a bit better, "if you aren't there, I'll most likely be shuffled off to some other Alpha that I don't want."

The soap smelled flowery, vanilla something, left over from Relena. "Bedelia will help. And Meiran is... an option if you wish. I'm not considering it as a plan, but I'd rather not pretend it isn't a possibility."

That earned him a wobbly attempt at a smile. "No. There ought to be no pretending between us," Wufei agreed. "I'll get out and let you finish bathing."

He didn't particularly like the tilt of that failed smile, and he leaned in to kiss Wufei first. "But I'm going to come out the other side of this. You'll see."

The kiss he gained in return was soft and light, a barely felt press of their lips, as if Wufei were afraid that the world was fragile around them, and it was. It truly was. "I have faith in you."

"I won't misplace that faith, then." And for at least a few more hours he could harbor an unhindered fantasy about moving to the Costa del Sol with his Companion and disappearing from the map.

One more soft kiss, and then Wufei rose, dripping wet and reaching for a towel. "You had better not," he advised, and began drying himself. "Or I shall hold it against you until the day I cease to draw breath." 

"How do you feel about stucco houses with a private lagoon?" It was a blatant distraction question, while he rubbed himself quickly with the bar of soap.

Pausing, Wufei tilted his head to the side. "We could swim every day. I have to admit, I feel quite fond of the notion."

"I was thinking there or Corsica." He splashed himself with water, still watching Wufei. "A lot of swimming at either location."

"And sufficient air conditioning, one would hope." That smile was more like what he expected to see, and a little less stressed in appearance.

He'd wash his hair and then crawl into bed with Wufei and all would be right with the world. For long enough to rest. "Of course."

Leaning in, Wufei kissed him one more time and then wrapped the towel around his hips. "Then that sounds delightful."

A man was allowed to have his fantasies. It was that or he was going to endlessly turn the discharge of the battle over and over in his mind until he lost it. Epyon had shown him too many possibilities, too many things that hinged on the actions of his enemies. 

The world would flourish, no matter what happened, and that helped. That helped settle his nerves as his Companion left the bathroom, door open invitingly, and he finished washing himself.

There was time. Time to stay together, time to enjoy one another, and time to pretend a battle wasn't coming, the end to a war, one way or another.

* * *

Wufei couldn't seem to catch his breath.

He knew there was nothing wrong with the command center. Everyone else seemed just fine except Anne. Anne gasped, and held her fist against her mouth as if she might scream, and then it passed once they heard Treize's voice over the comms.

"Attention all units! Take down the Libra!"

And then she was back to coordinating the world around them. But Wufei couldn't quite breathe.

One hand planted firmly on the console in front of him, he drew in a breath that wasn't enough, and then another, and then a third. It felt like his chest wasn't expanding no matter how deeply the breath was drawn, like it _wasn't enough._ As though somehow, some way, his brain wasn't doing the sufficient amount of work to get it working again.

His Benefactor, his _Alpha,_ had nearly taken a direct shot from a laser weapon made to destroy whole fleets, the _Earth._ "Mr. Khushrenada, do you need to sit down?" one of the lieutenants asked, leaning close.

"I'm fine." He wasn't even remotely fine, but he couldn't move away from the view screen. He had to be able to see.

It was confusing. There were the white painted units, and he thought they were theirs. There were the dark painted ones, and they had a different shape. Treize had called them Libras, mobile dolls. And there were the Gundams, but he only saw Meiran's immediately. There was just too much going on, and he was unaccustomed to trying to keep an eye on all of it.

All he could do was look for the bright crest of Tallgeese II and try not to panic if he couldn't find it immediately.

That didn't seem to help much, because if he could see it easily everyone else could, too. And that was the point -- Treize had dozed off mumbling about pennants in battle the night before -- but it didn't help him. 

He saw Meiran's mech, Shenlong, saw her cut down a mech near Treize and then seem to hesitate.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, and then she turned, and they were back to back, and Wufei's knees went weak beneath him from the relief.

He didn't know why she was still there, why she had worked with them. What was in it for her except that he owed her in a way if Treize lived. He would protect L5. And he would pay back his debts. 

And then the Peacemillion crashed into the Libra to knock it off course, to... Wufei wasn't sure, but that seemed to turn the battlefield, already a wild scattering of broken pieces of metal, into a panic.

Explosion after explosion rocked around them, strange and difficult to comprehend in space, and Wufei fell into a daze, just trying to keep his eyes on Treize. His terror was still there, sharp and vicious, but everything felt as if his emotions had been packed in cotton wool.

It wasn't just battle to the front left and right, but above and below, and it moved fast. He heard Anne shout, and he watched Epyon swoop toward them, the black and maroon monstrosity defending the now descending two ships.

And then another Gundam joined the fight.

Everything after that was a blur, Wufei watching the battle expand around them. Somewhere in there, he growled viciously, because damn it all, he wasn't supposed to be here holding his breath. He should be there, protecting Treize's back, and he wasn't equipped for that. He hadn't learned the right things, and his nails cut into his palms sharply.

He would. He wouldn't be on the outside if something like that happened again. 

He watched the ships disintegrate, attacked from all sides, and the Gundams fired on it. It was all confusing, mechs attacking mechs, new ones entering the field, broken ones leaving battles, and there was a shout of joy in the control center when the one Gundam blasted the last chunk of shuttle out of the edge of the atmosphere.

And then they all turned as one, and the hair on the back of Wufei's neck stood up in horror because they were all aiming at Treize. The world went white behind his eyes for a moment, one hand desperately holding onto the console in front of him to keep himself standing.

 _The enemy of my enemy is my friend_ had an expiration date, it seemed. A rather precise one. Treize broadcast from his Gundam. _"This fighting is useless for both the colonies and Earth. We share the same spaces and resources. I personally surrender to the colonies, in exchange for the opening of peace negotiations to form a new government."_

Wufei could almost feel the shock of the people around him. Almost, but his own tension was so high that he didn't realize how desperate he'd been until someone announced, _"This is Quatre Raberba Winner of L4. The colonies will accept your surrender."_

There was a round of soft muttering around them, almost relief. _"I recommend we reconvene at the resource satellite MO-II."_ That was where they were, that was back away from the field of carnage. _"You can safely see to your wounded there."_

 _"In four hours, then,"_ the voice replied, and then everything cut off.

Wufei looked at Anne, and he just felt drained and a little sick. "Is it over?"

"Yes. Yes, I think it is." There was a pause while all the Gundams hovered for a moment, and then broke off to head in whatever direction they wanted. Three looked to be immediately heading for the resource satellite that they were on, and one of them was Treize's. 

There was a comms hail from L1, and Anne gave it her attention. Wufei just looked ahead until he saw that Treize was coming their way, and that was such a relief that he gasped. If it sounded like a sob, well. That clearly wasn't true.

His Alpha was coming back. They were still in space and he didn't entirely understand what had just happened, but he was alive. He was alive and no one seemed inclined to shoot him.

Wufei would take that and be incredibly grateful. "Where will he come in?" He needed to know. "The hangar? How do I get there?" It was a compelling need to know, to find his Alpha. Anne tipped her head slightly, and gestured for a younger officer to help.

"It's this way, sir. Please come with me."

Wufei fell into step, quickly moving after the lieutenant. All of the halls looked the same to him, but the lieutenant seemed to know precisely where he was going and so he kept up in order that he not get lost.

They finally reached a massive bay overlooked by a wall of windows with doors that were sealed. Outside they could see the giant bay doors, open and waiting; perhaps he imagined that he could see the Gundams there already in the distance, but they weren't the important part. Not even close, and he kept his eye trained on the distance until he could make out the bright gold crest of Tallgeese II. Something about that seemed to ripple over him in a sense of relief that shook him from head to toe for a moment.

There was his Alpha.

His. His his his, and he leaned up against the glass during the agonizingly slow maneuvering of the giant machines into the bay, all three, no, four coming in. It took an eternity, and then the bay doors sealed, and there was a loud hissing noise he could hear from the other side of the doors. "There's other bays for anyone else coming," the young officer said. 

He watched the cockpit of Tallgeese open, and Treize climbed down from it to the scaffolding, moving with care in his spacesuit as the atmosphere began to regulate itself. He was frantic to get in there, get through the doors and closer, and he was fairly certain that even the Beta lieutenant had to smell his desperation, the sheer raging need he felt watching Treize come down and wait for the people in the other mobile suits.

He didn't know most of them, though he did recognize Meiran if only because she was short and he recognized the gear and the mech she had come down from. It was an eternity before they approached the doors, another double sealed lock, open and closed and then open again and Treize was taking off his helmet as he approached.

Wufei didn't bother trying to stop himself.

The door opened before he even got there, and Treize was on the other side. He didn't trip on the lip of the doorway, just launched himself off of it and wrapped his arms around Treize with a viciously tight grasp. "Oh, thank god."

Treize wrapped his arms tight around Wufei, and pulled him against the wall because there was a helmeted pilot helping another pilot past, and Wufei could vaguely smell Meiran and some woman. None of it mattered because his Alpha was alive, and that reverberated in him as if someone had struck a chord at his center so that he resonated in time with Treize's heartbeat. He was here, here, here, and the sick wash of relief made him giddy and nauseated.

"I was so afraid," he murmured, because he had been. Very much so.

"I know. Couple of close calls out there." He curled one gloved hand against the back of Wufei's head, still holding him tightly. And then Treize laughed, a sound Wufei recognized for the nervous wild relief it was.

"More than a couple," Wufei replied, and he lifted his head, immediately being gifted with the press of Treize's mouth, and he shivered, opened his mouth and welcomed it.

Just unspeakable relief, a slow slide of mouth against his, a slip of tongue, and a suggestion of desperation. "Why am I not surprised?" That was some woman's voice, unknown, and Wufei was vaguely aware that she patted Treize's shoulder on her way past. "Get inside before they seal the airlock."

"And toss you right out," Meiran added, and Wufei peeked around to see her looking at the other woman in a way that was quite interesting. Possibly even a bit lustful.

That was rather remarkable.

Treize sighed, and seemed to force himself to step forward, tugging Wufei with him, as they cleared to the other side of the airlock. "Let's go to the command center."

"I think all of you could stand to bathe," Wufei offered, because they smelled like sweat and stress and fear, and it was frankly unpleasant.

"Mon cher cousin, I fear that is more than true." She wrinkled her nose. "I can smell you from here." Ah, so that must be Dorothy, then. The eyebrows possibly should have been a clue.

"Command Center first," he reiterated, lifting a hand in a wave to the lieutenant who had been working the system.

"Not for me, I'm afraid." One hand rose and ruffled through sweat damp blond locks and then she cast a look at Meiran. "You coming?"

Ohhhh.

That was interesting, and he didn't know why any of the Khushrenada family didn't smell right, not until he was right up in their space. Treize tugged and very purposefully took him in a veer to a different stairwell. It gave them something like privacy. "Ten minutes more. And then we'll have space."

Space and time and safety, finally, a space where neither of them was likely to die long before they were ready.

Wufei followed him, step after step, and he never once let go of Treize's hand. Not even close.

It wasn't a terrible process; Treize smelled like fear and relief as they walked, and he stepped into the command center. He hadn't expected the cheer, the half shouts and exclamations from the officers and staff in that room. Anne came over, and hugged him, just for a little too long. Long enough that the hair on the back of Wufei's neck rose, and he just barely managed to stop himself from stepping forward to interrupt things.

She finally did let go, and Wufei settled, because she was quite clearly happy that he had survived, happy that all of them had survived. Who wouldn't be?

"It's been an honor to work with all of you. I know you're the right people to be in charge as we move forward as a society. Please alert me when the delegation from the colonies arrives, I'll be down in the state room."

"Of course, Your Excellency." That easy? It was somewhat surprising, but Wufei felt Treize's hand at the small of his back, and he went with him, making their way toward the nearest shower, Wufei would be willing to bet.

Treize didn't talk again until they were in a clean bedroom with an attached bath, and the door was shut behind them. "I'm technically a prisoner, but I don't expect it to be a... long term problem."

Wufei's heart jumped into his throat and he swallowed it down again. "Then I'll be a prisoner with you. Let me help you get that off so that we can bathe."

"Noting so melodramatic will be required, I promise. This is... probably a list of stipulations on what I can and cannot do politically. The pilots bear no grudge." He started to unzip his suit, pulling at fasteners and letting Wufei help. "Which is fine. If I'm banned from ever lifting a hand in war again, I. Am failing to see the downside."

Nor could he, truth be told. "So we'll go and live in the tropics and swim daily." It was meant as teasing more than anything else as he managed to get Treize out of the suit.

"Yes, and I'll eventually come up with something to do. A year or so of not much sounds very welcome right now." He really did reek of stress and fear, though it seemed to be easing a little. It told Wufei his worry hadn't been entirely misplaced.

Once Treize was bare, Wufei stripped off, as well, and they moved toward the shower to take care of that problem. It wasn't the sort of bath either of them wanted, but it would do, he thought. The water was hot, and Treize pulled him in close, a press of wet skin against wet skin. He started to kiss Wufei again, a little desperate, and Wufei opened to it because Treize was needy and he liked him that way, loved the hands on him, the way he pulled him in close.

"Fuck. Fuck, I was so worried," he gasped out between kisses. "You were amazing when I could see you."

"One last hurrah." He pressed Wufei up against the shower wall, pressing his hips against Wufei's, rubbing and rocking. "We'll do anything you want, but that was enough risk."

"Yes!" Yes to what he was doing, yes to that being more than enough risk, just. Yes for everything, and Wufei wasn't surprised when he was lifted, back still firm against the shower wall for support.

Hands holding his ass, making it easy for him to wrap a leg around Treize as he rocked against him It got him closer for kisses, too, just that little extra height and if Treize wanted to do more he would've said yes to that, too. He'd have said yes to anything just then, but Treize was rocking against him, steady and desperate, and Wufei couldn't help feeling desperate, himself. Their cocks were lined up, Treize's larger one rubbing against his own, and he couldn't help groaning.

He clutched at Treize, let himself be ground against, back pressed against the wall, water warm and steadily pounding down against them. Wufei could feel it coming fast, urgent and adrenaline-fueled, counterpointed with kisses and groans, and when he came it was with a loud cry, shaky, his hands pulling Treize in so that he could kiss him, desperate and hot and wanton because yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yes, and Treize wasn't far behind, Wufei could tell even in his dazed state, kissing him and kissing him, every second delightful.

It felt so good, the way his Alpha arched against him and squirmed, clutching him desperately close. He didn't need to be in heat to be wanted, to feel that good, and that was a weird relief he hadn't expected to feel as Treize breathed hard against his mouth, and then kissed at his neck. "All mine."

"All yours." There was no question of it, and he was catching his own breath in the humid hiss of the shower. "Always yours."

"Epyon showed me how this could go. Cut it fine there on a couple of choices." He gave another slow chuckle, fingers clutching hard at Wufei still. "Think we'll be okay."

Wufei kissed him, and then kissed him again as his legs were released and he was settled back on his own feet. "Mmmm." Yes, and he was tired enough for a nap now.

Watching the battle had been absolutely exhausting; he couldn't imagine how tiring it was to be in it. One of Treize's hands shook a little as he settled them at Wufei's hips, just petting. "Going to crawl into bed with you until someone hammers on that door."

It was a good plan. Wufei liked that plan, his eyelids already drooping as they finished washing, hands roaming, soapy and caressing. By the time they were rinsed clean and dry, he was more than ready to curl up with Treize and sleep until someone came knocking.

The bed was narrow, but it didn't matter as they laid close anyway. He could breathe again, and relax, and feel like a real person.

Nothing could be better than that.

* * *

The bed was a terrible mess. He was going to have to heave it all into the washing machine, when he could be bothered to do more than haphazardly crawl back into it, carrying two cups of coffee. The windows were open, and the breeze from the ocean was just perfect.

Wufei was still mostly asleep because he wasn't a morning person on a good day, much less on a post-heat day. At least he thought they were at the end of it. Treize didn't have the full feel of it, even a year later; it was much more enjoyable in their home, in comfort. He had food delivered up, and they could just go between the bed and the bath and anywhere else Wufei wanted to be.

He reached out, stroking a hand over Wufei's spine, and Wufei rolled over to blink up at him, still pleasure dazed and a bit dreamy even now. "Mmm." Then he saw the coffee and made a grabby motion as he sat up and reached for it.

"What would you like for breakfast?" It seemed like the very least he could do after he'd dozed off balls deep in Wufei the night before. "Fruit and toast?"

"And eggs," Wufei decided. Protein probably did sound like a good idea, actually, all things considered. Possibly it was a sign.

It had been three years since the end of the war, and they'd spent a year at Luxembourg while everything began to work itself out afterward. They had finally been free to go where they liked after that, though.

Luxembourg hadn't been bad. There had been books, and gardens and he and Wufei had talked a great deal; he had been a chess piece in the post war negotiations that no one had felt like taking entirely off the board, and his general demeanor had helped, he knew. No posturing, no rages. Going about his life quietly hadn't been for show; it was a preview of his plans after he'd been 'released'.

Moving to the house with the private lagoon had been an easy choice. Dorothy was just sad she wouldn't have access to it for holidays.

Meiran had assured her there were many other places to holiday, and she had meant it. The fact that they were both Alphas hadn't seemed to slow down either of them. Then again, Dorothy had wanted to marry him one day when she was a wee thing, so it wasn't as if it had been any sort of surprise.

"Mmmm, an Alpha who brings me coffee. Wonderful."

"I'll make you eggs, too. Scrambled or over easy?" He settled in for a moment, feeling mellow and refreshed as he tucked himself against Wufei.

"Scrambled," Wufei decided, kissing his nose and then resting against him. "With fruit and toast. And then I'll check messages, but possibly we could spend all day just floating about."

"Possibly we could." It was always good to rest after, to rehydrate and just sort of enjoy being close in the aftermath of what felt like almost too much fucking. Not that there was such a thing but _almost._

Not having anyone around by design helped as well, kept Wufei from getting snappish. He was incredibly testy about having anyone close when he was in season, as it were, and didn't appreciate company around that time. Treize was less stressed by it, which was a bit of a reverse from traditional roles, he supposed, but he'd never been a typical Alpha anyway.

He was by all accounts something of a terrible Alpha, and that was what Wufei preferred. He didn't have a raging urge to mark Wufei, to control him, or to have piles of children on him. He preferred to have privacy to relax and enjoy it with Wufei, though, and if that meant cancelling the cleaners for a week, so be it.

"You're the best Alpha," Wufei murmured, and kissed him again, this time on his mouth. Funny how their minds worked on the same levels sometimes.

He inhaled as he pulled away, still catching a faint whiff of heady need on Wufei that was starting to fade away. "I'll get the eggs started. Are we going to the conference next month? I think there were preprints sent in yesterday's mail."

"I think so, yes." Wufei had been unimpressed by the hòugōng, to say the least, and had begun doing research into similar places. When he'd found out how many Omegas still lived in situations just like that, he'd been furious and had begun to campaign for Omegas to be better treated and entrusted with their own decision making at the very least.

There were lots of people around the world campaigning for the same thing, from all sexes. "I'll carry your bags." He sipped at his coffee, wondering if this would be the time. They had decided to skip the contraception this time, and perhaps it would be that Treize was simply sterile. Or that the tail end of a war wasn't the best time to do anything.

Either way, they were ready now to bring another member of the family into their lives. They hadn't been when the war had still been on, and they'd been fortunate after that first heat not to end up with an addition then. "You're even more attractive when you do that," Wufei murmured, and kissed him again.

The affection soothed his nerves. Adjusting to post war life, to not having meetings around the clock and things to accomplish had been surprisingly hard, but Wufei was always willing to get him out of his own head or make him read something instead. 

Or dance with him out in the garden. "Careful, you don't want me to carry your luggage around for no particular reason..."

"Mmm, don't I, though?" Wufei smirked at him. "I could just watch you. It would be delightful."

He leaned in, and kissed behind Wufei's ear, closing his eyes for a moment. "That settles that."

It very much did, and they stayed there together for a long moment. It had been hard to quit, hard to walk away from everything, but it had been well worth it in Treize's opinion. 

If he hadn't walked away, things would've been... different. Not better in any way that Treize could think of; he could have fought to have a more active part in the world stage, to have stayed on, but nothing would have changed. It was time to step back and be the supportive partner. Time to let someone else fight for their own ideals, and Dorothy was as good a person as he could have hoped for. She delighted in fighting, and that certainly was right up her alley.

Treize took one last deep breath, fingers half stroking Wufei's hair. He could barely smell the coffee and it left him feeling heady. "Breakfast. Right."

Right.

And they lived happily ever after.


	2. The Omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll have my signals team make sure that my mobile suit has comms that work for your Gundam. I have never worked as a pair. We aren't a known pair right now. I can't afford that just yet." Treize pushed his chair back slightly from the table.
> 
> Wufei's molars ground tightly together. "I'm not asking you to make a declaration. I don't require anything of the sort. I do require that I be allowed to fight with you and protect your back." They hadn't bothered with testing to see if Treize had fetched up; there was no point as yet, although Wufei was sure that he had.
> 
> Which made it more frustrating, trying to navigate the balance of... whatever. Whatever the man was doing, when Wufei would have taken off gladly to the wilderness with him. "Then fight with me. Gladly. But we have a short period of time, and I have to know what the Gundams are doing."

The place had been locked up more tightly than the proverbial Fort Knox.

Chang Wufei had always rather wondered about that phrase. It was obviously a leftover from some bygone day, but it did come to mind when looking at the Luxembourg estate.

No lock was going to defeat him, though.

He took his time picking the lock of the door on the balcony, careful not to rattle it or otherwise give it away. The challenge was going to be the inside locks, finding where they were and slipping them up with the jimmy he had brought with him.

Duo wasn't the only resourceful one, after all.

It wasn't until he took a step in that the smell hit him, and his eyes flared in immediate response.

Fuck.

The air was heavy, damp with the smell of ripe Omega even if he couldn't see what was going on in the room. It was an unmistakable scent, and there was the heavy breathing, the faint shift of the bed creaking.

"Fuck..."

Fuck was right. Wufei could feel his body reacting, his teeth aching to bite already. He should go.

He needed to go.

He needed to turn and leave, and never mind that he wasn't going to get any answers, he wasn't going to get any answers just then, either, because it made his heart rate pick up, as he stood in the open French doors.

And then the wind changed directions, blowing against his back, and the figure in the bed groaned. Wufei could see a strong arched back, an ass up in the air. No sheets in the way. "Dammit."

"That's the word." His voice sounded raw, on edge. "I'd apologize but...." Well. There were some things that were impossible to apologize for having done. Wufei was pretty sure this was one of them.

Treize Khushrenada was in exile, house arrest for daring to disagree with Romefeller. Wufei had expected to challenge him to a duel, not to find him looking wildly sweaty, leaning on his forearms, sucking in a hard breath. "Close the doors when you come in. I don't want every stray in ten miles coming here."

"I should leave." God, he should very much leave. He'd never smelled anything like it, though, not in the least, and Wufei couldn't keep the groan from escaping him. "I should very much leave." He was shutting the door behind him, though, and he felt almost sick knowing that he hadn't done what he should have.

He should have left, he should have turned and pretended he had seen none of it, least of all Khushrenada leaning on his knees and one forearm, sliding a hand back along his own flank. "Tried to take care of it myself. Can't get it to ebb down."

Wufei swallowed, hard. "How long has it been going on?"

"Two days." He moved in a way that was come hither, and Wufei could see his hard cock bobbing between his legs.

He should definitely go, but the best he could manage was to gulp and try to hold his breath. "Do you need anything before I leave?"

He heard Khushrenada laugh, a desperate, ragged thing, and he turned his head, pressing his face against the pillows he was leaning into. Wufei was too close, shouldn't have even come into the room. He could feel his own pulse. "Time machine?"

They both needed that, in Wufei's opinion. "I don't know if I can leave." He knew he couldn't. His voice was raw in his throat, and he stepped forward, one step. Then another.

He smelled so good, and now he could see how the man's fingers were damp and sticky from playing with his own ass ineffectually. Khushrenada gave a shuddering exhale. "Fuck me, just fuck me."

That wasn't a yes. It was like fucking someone drunk, and Wufei swallowed hard. He'd probably regret this later, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. His feet were in control of him somehow, and when his knees met the mattress, he swarmed up over the bedding and got hold of Treize's hips. "You're..." He groaned.

So very ready and so very hot, his skin felt like he was burning up, and this was exactly why Omegas locked themselves away when they were in heat, and why they took suppressants. Because Khushrenada smelled too good, and tipped his hips just so, knees sprawling wider on the bed. "Please. Please, I need you."

"You'll hate me after," Wufei muttered, but he was drawn in and before he knew it, he had both globes of that beautiful ass in his hands, making space for him to get his tongue in there, rasping it over the open drenched hole of him greedily.

The groan it got him was worth it. It rumbled deep in the man's chest, the hand he was halfway touching himself while falling to the bed to better brace and push back, changing the angle slightly. He tasted clean, musky, an uncomplicated ready to be fucked taste that made Wufei's dick ache, made his mouth open wide, tongue pushing past the ring of muscle to taste the salty slick taste, and fuck. Fuck, that was good. He'd never smelled or tasted anything so perfect, and he groaned into it, hands shifting to hold those hips still while he tasted him. His wife had been a beta; he'd never felt anything like this.

The smell was different, enticing in a way that reached down to his balls. Khushrenada gasped, and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a whine, pushing back against him. "Oh fuck, yes, yes..."

Yes, god, yes, and Wufei wasn't sure he could stop, hand reaching around and grasping the man's cock, surprised at the size of it, awkwardly stroking even as he licked in, fuck, tasting, and his brain was possibly shutting down at the wonder of it. He was so turned on, and he had too many clothes on as he licked and sucked, stroking Khushrenada firmly. The begging wasn't stopping, and it made it hard to remember what his initial qualm was.

He lost himself completely until a hand clenched in his hair, tight and pulling, and he came up gasping with a snarl, and bit gently at one cheek in warning. "Mine."

It got an answering sound that was deep and needy, and the fingers let go. "Fuck me, please fuck me, fuck me now."

Yes.

Yes, yes, yes, that was what he needed to hear, and Wufei was up and over him in a heartbeat, cock in hand, and he aimed, slipped a bit, then got snubbed in just right and began to push into the soft wet heat of him, the clasp hot and tight and grasping him so close that he could only groan at the feel of it.

Khushrenada gasped, and pushed up onto his hands, rocking back against him for more, halfway fucking himself onto Wufei's dick. "Yes, fuck, more, more."

God, more, and he caught those hips and pulled him back as he pushed forward until he was so deep that he was sure he couldn't get any deeper. "Fuck." His voice was rough and lower than usual ."Fuck, you're... " Goddamned perfect. He was perfect.

He was beautiful, muscles of his back flexing, half looking over his shoulder at Wufei, just for a second, before he ground back against him. "Don't stop moving."

That was something he could do, and so he began to shift, stroking deep. He kept the rhythm deep and steady, knowing what he wanted, what he _needed_ , and he wanted to feel the man come. He wanted to feel that deep grasp around him, wanted him to come more than once. Wanted to fuck into him until he belonged to him, and just the thought of it had him salivating.

Wufei leaned into him, pounding the other man hard until his knees started to slip, kissing the man's back, tasting his skin. He tasted delicious, unmarked, unclaimed, like a blank sheet of paper waiting for the mark of a pen, and he wanted, he wanted so much. "Let me," he moaned, mouth pressed to a shoulder blade. "Let me, I want to, I want..."

"Harder," Khushrenada begged, tipping his ass just a little more, just the right angle as he pressed his shoulder back against Wufei's mouth. It felt like permission.

"Come for me. _Come for me."_ It was a command, and maybe that wasn't fair. Probably that wasn't fair, but Wufei didn't care, he just needed him to come, he wanted to feel it

He wasn't sure if he did it right, if he was honest. It wasn't like he could run around testing it, because Omegas were rare, often spoken for already. But he could command down a beta, unless they were particularly willful, and he felt when the man beneath him sighed and shuddered in response to the order, and then the desperate clenching started around him.

"Fuuuuck." Fuck, yes, and he could feel his knot forming, feel it coming, and when he thrust the last time, he felt Khushrenada snap down around him, squeezing and milking, and that was when he leaned in and set his teeth, biting him quick and hard.

Deep, deep enough to leave a good mark on the man beneath him, who was panting and squirming back against him, reaching a hand back to clutch at Wufei's ass and draw him in more tightly.

God, he could stay there forever.

By the time his brain clicked back into gear, they were curled on their sides, sweaty still, breath softening, and he was gently licking at the bite, cleaning away the blood.

They were so fucked.

That realization shouldn't feel so right.

Time machine had been the right request, and he didn't want to pull out yet. Everything still felt tight, warm and wet around his dick, and he was drowsy as they laid there. No point suffering, he thought, and so he began to stroke Khushrenada's side, a gentle steady motion before slipping around to stroke at his belly, as well. It felt a bit distended, but then, Wufei was pretty sure that was just part of it. Possibly. Probably.

He'd never done it before with an Omega, never knotted like that except that one time that Meiran had muttered about him being an asshole in rut. Khushrenada sighed, and pressed his back closer in against Wufei. He felt hot still, almost feverish to the touch. "'S awkward."

"Very," Wufei agreed. "I'm sorry. I never thought I was this kind of person." The kind who'd just walk in and lose all sense and not be able to walk away from an Omega in need. He kissed the bite. "I should have been able to walk away."

Treize gave a quiet, weird laugh, digging a shoulder into the mattress as if he might get comfortable. "Why did you come here?"

"Left my dadao with you." Wufei kissed the bite again, gentled it. It looked a little better. "My grandfather made it. I thought perhaps I could steal it back from you."

His fingers petted over the man's stomach again, and he felt the man shudder, another spasm around his dick. "Well. Not here, I'm under house arrest."

"Not for long," Wufei murmured, and reached to get a hand around the Omega's cock, beginning to stroke.

The gasp he got at that was sweet to his ears, and the man pushed forward against his fingers. "Hmn?"

"You're mine now." Whatever that meant in the face of everything. "I won't leave you here." Yes, and he pushed in again, careful not to pull too much at where they were connected.

He could feel the pull and clench, Khushrenada squirming back against him like he wanted more or wanted to feel it better. Could he really be ready for more already? "We'll see."

Yes. Yes, they would, but for now there was this, the clutch and the warmth and the wet and the pleasure, and Wufei...

Well.

Wufei would take what he could get for now.

* * *

The books and movies said that it was the most enjoyable sensation in the world, an Omega getting rutted by an Alpha when they were in estrus. That Omegas wanted that more than anything, to be claimed by a mate and to raise children.

He had managed to avoid it for a good twenty five technically fertile years. 

And the shame of it was that the sex was very very good, better than fucking himself with toys by far. He'd spent hours knotted and moaning and coming, and the bed linens were absolutely filthy by the end of it.

He'd never had a more enjoyable fuck in his life.

It was most unfortunate that it came at the hands of an enemy.

An enemy who'd mated him quite literally as well as physically.

When he could think, in between waves of urges, in between desperate begging to be plowed again, he was trying to recalibrate for the new and unexpected reality. Wufei had been a gorgeous young man, a brilliant fighter, but not someone Treize had planned for. Could he even have done it? He didn't think so.

No. No, he couldn't have, because none of that had been even remotely possible.

He shouldn't have gone into heat, except his family knew what he was; Dermail knew what he was, and just wanted to grind his heel in just that little bit more. Wufei shouldn't have been there breaking into his bedroom.

Wufei shouldn't have been curled up against his back, petting his stomach.

Time had passed, and he wasn't really sure about how much. It had come and gone in fits and starts, and the few times he'd been coherent, Wufei had been somewhere off to the left of it. The smell of him was utterly distracting, apparently. Someone had come with food, and he'd thought that Wufei might well go through the door, he'd moved so quickly to stand between him and it.

That had been unexpected for those guarding him; no one had been there at the onset, and he hadn't been allowed visitors, but no one wanted to report a breach that they hadn't noticed. He probably had another day before he needed to come up with a solution.

Which was good, because his libido had clearly taken his brain offline. "Might be winding down finally." He hoped.

"Mhm." The gentle kisses against the back of his neck continued. "Smells like. What I can smell over us. We should get a bath."

"You can smell that?" Perhaps he could. Treize had spent most of his life trying not to smell anyone too deeply lest he show some micro expression. He stretched, shifting to pull away.

"I've never actually smelled an Omega before you, so it's possibly a guess, or possibly something I can smell. Seems reasonable." The hand on his belly shifted to his hip, stroked down a thigh. "I can always tell when someone is lying, too. But I think that might just be me."

Wufei’s dick wasn’t in him just then, but he still shivered at that touch. Maybe it wasn’t quite over just yet. “We should get up and go to the bath.” Did he admit that he’d never done that before?

"We should." A thumb stroked down his flank. "I... Well. You already know I bit you." He could almost hear regret in that, and he didn't want to hear it. Strangely, he didn't want him not to want that, which made no sense. "I feel like I should apologize to you because you didn't consent, but everything feels strangely right. Does it..." There was hesitance there. "Does it always feel right? Or is it just me?"

He closed his eyes, and slid his hand over the hand that was petting insistently at him. It was almost annoying, and it was soothing at the same time. He was going to go out of his mind if he was pregnant, absolutely out of his mind. “I wouldn’t know. I managed to avoid this until now.”

"Oh." That sounded rather surprised. "So neither of us has any clue what we're doing here. Excellent."

“Not a single idea.” He clutched Wufei’s hand perhaps a little too tightly, and started to sit up. He could feel a vague stirring, which was insane. “You timed this badly for it to be of any benefit to you.”

"Assuming that I timed it at all. It isn't as if I could have known." Which, Treize supposed, was a point. "You didn't smell like an Omega on the boat. You smelled like a beta."

"Drugs to keep it under control." And now he'd been _mated,_ which was enough to make him feel unhinged if he thought about it hard at all. It was easier to turn and finally look at Wufei in the bed. The other man was naked, of course, but also very pretty. His hair was a loose sweaty mess around his head, and he had what looked like an interesting amount of functional muscle. Treize had been a little too far gone to appreciate it until then.

One hand reached out for him and tugged him in for a kiss, soft and sweet and easy, as if anything else in their lives would be now. "Let's bathe," he agreed, but he was smiling at him in a way that made Treize's heart do a strange little thing.

He stretched once they were standing, feeling sore and uncomfortable as they walked to the en suite bathroom. At least he'd been allowed that in his isolation. Wufei ran the water, and Treize turned in the mirror trying to eye the bite. It was well on its way to healing, the mark faint but there, identifiable if he wore anything other than his uniform. The world felt strange around him somehow, and then he was joined in the mirror.

His Alpha was shorter than him but lovely to see all the same, and the arm that wrapped around him felt strangely welcome to him. The world had been turned on its ear. "Come bathe."

"How do you see this going?" He had to ask; he was trying to play out the possibilities and spin things forward to a peaceful resolution to the current iteration of the war, the iteration that the colonies had started and that he had set on fire. 

His asking questions didn't stop him from stepping into warm, almost too hot water. It was something of a surprise when Wufei knelt down and reached for a flannel, beginning to wash him. It was strange, and also sort of nice. He seemed to think for a long moment. When he spoke, it was slow and thoughtful. "I was raised, despite being an Alpha, to be the... think of it as prince consort. Not so much as the Alpha making decisions for their mate." The washing proceeded up his arm, Wufei's eyes following what he was doing. "So I suppose the question here is how do _you_ see this going?"

He had bested Wufei in hand to hand combat. Just because the other man had bit him, he needed not to forget that. Treize flexed his wrist, settled his hand on Wufei's narrow shoulder. "I never wanted children. Or a mate. I had plans for the rest of the war."

The quiet stretched for a long while. "I had a wife. I wasn't looking for a mate." The cloth kept working, Wufei cleaning him steadily. "But I have one now. So things aren't at all what I was expecting. Or you, obviously." He paused and licked his upper lip. "Chances are high you've got both of those things regardless of what you wanted."

Treize really had no memory of getting semen on his chest, but there it was, being wiped away steadily with a wet flannel. The bed didn't need to be changed, it quite possibly needed to be burnt. "My mother thought, hallucinated, that I was an Alpha."

Dark grey eyes rose and caught his, and the cloth slowed. "That sounds unpleasant." No judgment, just a steady expression.

"It was very unpleasant. She was unhinged after her mate died. She never came back to herself." He didn't look away. "You entered the war for your people, your colony -- what now?"

That sigh was hefty. "They're gone now. My wife's grandmother said that I would determine what was just." He looked at Treize. "Now, I have you. And I have to determine what's right. There is nothing else."

It made him angry, an emotion he didn't feel very often. It was better to feel nothing at all, blank and calm, irritation that smoothed over because he had plans and a world to fix. He didn't belong to anyone. "Will they have found your Gundam by now?"

Wufei shrugged. "Doubt it. They might have found the motorcycle I stole to get here, though." He went back to washing, and finally sighed. "And if you don't want a mate, well. I can walk away if you tell me to. It's your decision, after all."

"I don't know what I want." It was honest because he was confused and stressed and still horny, against all the goddamned odds. Surely he was well past whatever biological urge was driving him.

That earned him another shrug and a look that he felt like he should recognize. He didn't. "Then let me know when you do."

He closed his eyes for a moment, felt Wufei stroke the flannel down his other arm. It left him feeling tired and vulnerable and still angry. "I was waiting for Romefeller to fall sway to OZ's goodwill, and then I was going to overthrow them."

"And what do you plan for the colonies?" Which was the important part for Wufei, he supposed. 

"Government with equal footing with Earth." He kept his eyes closed because he wasn't accustomed to having someone in his personal space like that. "The blockades weren't a sane solution."

"No. It made it very hard to live, to be honest. As if the biological weapons the Alliance dropped were somehow insufficient." That voice was dry, and Wufei finally sat back. "Am I welcome in your bath?"

"Yes." He didn't overthink it, opening his eyes to look at Wufei as the other man stood up. "You're probably not thrilled with this."

It was nice that he slipped into the bath in front of him and not behind. Treize had gotten quite tired of being the little spoon. "Mostly I'm just ashamed that I couldn't walk away. There weren't any Omegas on L5. I'd never been exposed to one before." He paused, from beginning to wash himself. "I don't like that I acted without consent."

He reached a hand out to stroke over Wufei's shoulders, exploring by touch. "Hmn, I was sure I've spent the last couple of days begging you to fuck me harder." His dick twinged a little at the thought, mostly interest.

"You know what I mean." He was cleaning himself, but Treize could tell he was interested. "I'd have preferred if you said yes when you weren't nearly so deep in your heat. And possibly when I had a little more sense about me, as well."

Except Treize said no when he was in his right mind, because he didn't want to end up mated to some Alpha. Any Alpha. Any Alpha at all. He didn't want to end up mated because it changed everything, took control out of his hands. Vingt had been the actual Alpha of the two of them, irony of ironies. He stroked over the back of Wufei's neck, pondering how to answer. "I've never had a full heat before. I'm not sure earlier would've made me any more sensible."

The touching of his neck didn't seem to bother him, which was possibly quite odd in the Alpha range of things. "All the same. I prefer obvious consent, and the smell of you seems to have wiped out all higher brain functions."

That surprised him, trying to turn that thought over. "What you prefer and what you did are two different things. Are you going to keep wringing your hands about it?"

"Possibly," he was advised. "I'm quite good at hand wringing. But also possibly not because it's done now."

"Suppose I'll wait a few weeks before trying to source a pregnancy test." That was absolutely horrifying to consider, as he idly petted at Wufei's neck, and then let his hands drift down to Wufei's sides. He really was quite attractive, all warm brown skin and slim build, and he fucked like he fought -- well thought out and all in, which Treize had to admit was very nice.

"Why bother sourcing one? I can walk in and pick one up and no one will ever know."

"Ah, now I know you're still not thinking well. I'm not a free man. Nor am I low profile." He was too well known to ever hide anywhere and it wasn't as if he could abandon the war. It made his head hurt, and the bath water was nicely warm, and Wufei was attractive. He'd broken a long streak of not having sex, and it was very possible he would never see him again.

That earned him a grin, though, and that was quite unexpected. "What I mean to say is that I'll pick one up and bring it to you. You aren't a free man, but they were easy enough to get past. I can do it again."

That was a somewhat reasonable thought, and he leaned in closer, a suggestion of interest. "How are you feeling about consent right now?"

He seemed quite interested. "I would say that you probably know exactly what you're doing at the moment, so a yes would obviously be a yes."

Wufei mostly had his back to him, and he felt lovely, but not too close. That was fixed easily, his petting hands pulling him closer before he leaned in to kiss Wufei's mouth. "I want you to fuck me."

"Oh?" That breathiness was a delight to hear. "I could do that."

"You've been rather good at it." He kissed down Wufei's jaw, liking the position he was half holding Wufei in.

"Pure instinct, I promise." His head tilted to the side, allowing him to do as he liked. "Oh. Oh, that's..." Treize wondered if all Alphas were like this.

Zechs was a complete bastard of an Alpha; a good friend and an excellent pilot, but a dick swinging, bragging Alpha who regularly teased him for not understanding the joys of rut. "Or if you'd be interested..."

Wufei hummed, and turned to catch his mouth in a kiss that felt searing and delicious. "Yes?"

"How do you feel about the inverse?" He stretched a leg out, getting Wufei a little more comfortably into the space between his legs.

The o of that mouth seemed quite interested, in fact, his eyes bright with curiosity. "My wife liked to try a lot of things. I'm willing to experiment on any given day."

"It's been a while." And not under the best circumstances, but he did want to see where it went, how it felt. Secret was out, no harm in also being caught out as a sex defying pervert.

"Then it's better to get on to it, then, no?" One sharp black brow spoke volumes. "Then it won't have been a while anymore."

It was a very strange moment, he was willing to admit, and enjoyable at the same time as he wrapped his arms around Wufei and kissed the back of his neck idly. "Bed might be better. If we can find a clean spot."

"Or we could take the time to change sheets if you have extras." It was a bit unlikely, he supposed, but they were both clean now, and that did feel immensely better. Treize wasn't sure he'd manage to get back in the bed in its current state no matter how much he might want something.

"Hadn't thought to look for a linen closet." Another option was to step outside, dressed, and ask, which was disarming, and would probably work.

Pulling away, Wufei rose, dripping wet. It made it rather obvious that he was enjoying the idea Treize had suggested, so perhaps they were at least perverts together. "Towels?" Wufei asked, glancing toward the narrow armoire in the corner of the rather large bathroom.

He watched Wufei's dick bounce as he walked, and got a twinge in his stomach at the memory of how good it felt to be fucked by him, knotted. Coming around that dick. Even if he had likely come for a duel, a fight. That wasn't where they were just then. "Ah, towels will work."

Wufei opened it, dragged out towels, and then turned. "There are sheets on the bottom shelf, so I think we should be fine."

"Ah good." He leaned back against the tub edge, still eyeing Wufei. "I was contemplating matches as a solution."

"Probably for the best," Wufei agreed with serious demeanor, head tilted to the side as he watched him, still dripping onto the tile floor.

He had no idea what the other man was thinking. That was novel; Treize could usually anticipate Une or Zechs, or anyone who was 'close' to him, could keep himself a few steps ahead, but this was throwing him. Surprised him, all over again. "Hmn?"

"We should burn the sheets. It's probably for the best." Yes, probably, and he ruffled one towel over his body in short order. "We can wash our hair later. Come on." He was holding another towel out for him, waiting patiently.

He didn't want to get out, because his body hurt in ways he'd never contemplated before. But Treize made himself stand up, moving slowly, stretching and trying to throw off the ache before he took the towel. "I'll help."

Yes, and that was good, because Wufei let him have the towel and began drying himself a bit better. It only took a moment, and then he wrapped the towel around his hips before he pulled out the other sheets from a lower shelf and closed the doors to the linen cupboard. "I'll go ahead and strip the bed," Wufei murmured, and left him to finish in his own time.

As if it had been anything other than a weird accident. Treize buffed himself mostly dry, and stepped into the bedroom after a moment to find Wufei having peeled the bed apart into a bundle that Treize moved to at least put out into the hallway. He could only imagine what the guards were thinking; they had all been polite and appropriate, but they weren't Treize faction.

It was all something to worry about altogether too much, he feared, and by the time he returned, Wufei was well on to affixing the fitted sheet. He didn't seem nervous, but Treize supposed he didn't know him well enough to judge.

He personally felt nervous, a low key unsettled feeling as he was trying to work out how to turn the tide of the war with this new... fact added into the mix. Treize secured the door from the inside and moved to grab the top sheet.

That earned him a quick quirk of lips, and they were done in short order, staring at one another from across the vast ocean of the bed. It was obvious, then, that Wufei was a bit nervous, so at least Treize wasn't alone in that.

It was easy when he was ass up in begging desperation, when he was out of his head with fever and wanting. Treize walked around the edge of the bed, reaching a hand out to Wufei to close the space between them. They could start with a kiss. That seemed to be a good idea, and he stepped in, taller than Wufei, greeted by the tilt of that head and the lowering of dark lashes.

Treize slipped fingers against the edge of his jaw, stroking for a moment before tipping his chin up slightly so he could kiss him. "Let's try this again."

Yes, again, and Wufei allowed the kiss, opened his mouth when Treize gently slipped his tongue between his lips. It was strangely tender, and so utterly easy somehow. More than, as he let Treize in, breath soft between them.

He tasted Wufei, enjoyed the slick friction as they kissed, letting his hands settle on damp skin at the other man's hips. It was a relief not to have to keep tense,not to have to worry about pheromones being smelled. His secret was out, the Alpha knew him for what he was, and he wasn't pressing for anything at all; he was just kissing, and kissing some more, gentle and easy. Treize hadn't thought anyone would ever be that way with him, much less an Alpha.

It was good, slow and distracting as he leaned into Wufei, pulling away only to work out what Wufei might be thinking. Whatever it was, he didn't seem as if he planned to assert his will immediately, eyes blinking open to look up at him. "Yes?"

"Just... thinking." Half waiting for him to use his Alpha command the way every other Alpha he'd ever known had. Treize leaned in to kiss him again, nudging him back to the newly changed sheets.

"Mmmm." Yes, thinking didn't seem to bother him in the least. He went willingly enough, parting from Treize only long enough to get onto the bed and make himself comfortable, looking up at him in a way that made Treize shiver. "Kiss me more?"

"Delighted to." And delighted to be on top, kneeling over Wufei and then kissing his mouth again. Towels wrapped around their hips were going to end up on the bed shortly, but for a moment he could enjoy just kissing Wufei, pressing against him chest to chest, and that was lovely. Even lovelier that Wufei didn't bother trying to roll him over and assert any sort of ownership or demands.

He kept waiting for that. Maybe Wufei was being on good behavior, but he didn't think the pilot was the sort of person to mask his personality like that. Treize pulled back, just to start kissing his jaw lightly.

"Oh, that's nice." Nice should probably be a word that he found offensive, but the shiver that rippled through Wufei said it was quite a bit more than nice. "Yes, that's..."

"Hmn?" Well, he was under experienced, so he was going to have to listen to and feel out Wufei's reactions. There was a spot there that just hit the mark it seemed.

"Ohhhh." Yes, that was just the spot, and Wufei shifted, head dropping back and to the side in an invitation to kiss him just there. 

"It's been so long." And completely different, wildly so. And this was nice, feeling Wufei's hands on his upper arms, sliding a knee between Wufei's legs so he could concentrate better on tasting and kissing his neck.

"You, you're doing just fine," he was assured, and then he gently nipped at that place and Wufei made a sound that absolutely went straight to his cock.

He hummed softly to himself and sucked that spot, reaching between them to loosen Wufei's towel. Just to reach and stroke him, to feel him warm and wanting and enjoying it, and there was no doubt about that.

"Oh, my god," Wufei finally muttered, rocking up against him. "You're trying to kill me."

"Turnabout," Treize murmured, kissing a bit up from that spot because he could, because he liked Wufei squirming. He liked everything about this, in fact, and that was something he was not going to think about anytime soon.

The little sighs and gasps he earned were all lovely, and he wasn't surprised when Wufei turned his face to kiss him, moaning into his mouth from the pleasure of it. "Mmm. Mhm."

He stroked Wufei's dick lightly, turning his palm a little, glad that they were still damp while he kissed Wufei back. There was lube around somewhere. Condoms, but that was a laughable thought. It wasn't as if he could get any more or less pregnant at this point, and Wufei couldn't get pregnant.

Might as well enjoy themselves.

"Let me get the lube." It was easy to snag, and he just had to pull away for a moment and fuss open a drawer.

"Yes, please." He clearly had no problem being the submissive one. It was so strange. He'd talked with other Alphas before and none of them had ever been remotely interested in this. They'd been endlessly fascinated by the idea of an Omega bending to their own will, so much so that Treize had been disgusted by all of them. It had clearly never crossed their mind that an Omega had a will of their own. He settled back in with the lube in hand, putting a dollop on his palm so he could slickly stroke Wufei's dick that much better. That earned him a moan and a flex of hips, and Wufei caught his lower lip in his teeth as if the pleasure of it was unbearable.

"Fuck." Yes, fuck, that was nice. Wufei had stroked him inside and out, owned him as an Alpha, and yet here he was, shuddering beneath him. It was so strange.

He loved it.

It was wonderful, kneeling over him, kissing him, sucking down to his collarbone, stroking him off leisurely. He smelled like Alpha, and that was arousing, made him ache with want and interest. Yes he was going to fuck him, without question. If he could focus long enough.

"You're gorgeous," Wufei murmured, hands petting at him, easy, gentle, and god. That wasn't anything he'd ever expected out of an Alpha. "Amazing."

He kissed lower, taking a moment to tongue over one nipple. "I want to do everything with you. To you."

A hand came up to cup the back of his neck. He enjoyed that touch, the grounding feeling that came with it, a strange sort of solidity to the world. "Yes. Yes, please, I want...."

"What kind, have you done something like this before?" It wouldn't do for them both to be winging it wildly.

Wufei gave a sound, shudder rippling through him. "Yes? Well, no, but also yes. I, my wife was a beta, but she was..." He pulled Treize up to kiss him again, again, and again.

It was heated and desperate, and he could feel just how much he wanted. Not heat wild, but desire, and he wanted to feel more of that, more of the hand on the back of his neck. "Adventurous," he filled in.

"Yes." Wufei nodded, his nose rubbing against Treize's. "Very adventurous."

He stroked the length of Wufei's dick, and then slipped his hand down further to toy with his balls. "We'll try a different adventurous."

"Ohhhhh." Yes, Wufei quite obviously liked the idea of a different sort of adventurous, and Treize was pleased with himself. He hadn't even been trying, hadn't wanted an Alpha, and somehow he'd ended up with this one, strange as he was.

He let himself fall into what he was doing, kissing and exploring, sliding down slowly to kiss the underside of Wufei's cock, slicking his fingers. That was what he liked, stroking his dick while he fingered himself, so surely it made sense.

"Oh, my god." That was clearly a yes from the way Wufei's knees sprawled wider, letting him in, letting him have access to everything he wanted. "Yes."

"Tell me when you feel ready." Wufei didn't have quite the same, like it was different, and he _knew_ it was different, so he took his time and used perhaps a preposterous amount of slick.

It was tighter, for one, less soft and immediately wet than when he touched himself. A shudder rippled through the other man, his hands coming up to grip at the pillow beneath his head as he gasped and shifted, whether it was away from Treize's touch or into it, well. Who could say, at first?

But the sounds and the feel of Wufei kept his dick hard and made his insides ache worse, better. Excitedly, and he kissed the inside of Wufei's thigh for a moment before nuzzling over to his balls.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, if, if you, oh, fuck." Fuck, and one of those hands came down to stroke through his hair. He could feel it trembling, the same way that his thighs were.

Soft damp skin, a tremor that felt on the edge of orgasm, the edge of too much stimulation, and Treize turned his head, kissed the inside of his thigh again. "Yes?"

Wufei let out a huff of breath. "Just. It's a lot." A lot, but he was softening around Treize's finger, rocking now, slow and steady.

He kissed his way back to Wufei's balls, shifting his hand to slip a second finger into Wufei, heavily slicked. "Feels good."

"Ohhhhh." He looked up and saw the flutter of lashes. "Oh, yes." Yes, squeezing around his fingers, clamping on them, and he wondered if it felt as good to Wufei as it had felt for him, being full.

He had enjoyed it, enjoyed the difference between a toy and the real thing enough that Treize was sure Wufei would like it, too. "I want to make you feel good."

"Yes." Yes, and it was clear that he was doing it, that Wufei liked it, and something in him cracked a bit, a switch flipping that lit him on fire, made him grin in a way he hadn't felt since the first time he'd taken on someone in a mobile suit.

He kissed the underside of Wufei's dick again, then back to his balls, stretching until he felt pliant, until he was shivering and just on the edge again. Then Treize knelt up between Wufei's legs, slicking his cock with a bit of a heavy hand. "You're lovely."

"I'm glad you think so." Obviously, and Wufei looked down at him, cheeks flushed, mouth open. "Fuck, please. Please, I want..."

"To be fucked. Slowly?" Treize shifted closer, sliding a knee under Wufei's thigh and reveling in petting his leg as he still held onto his dick. He wanted him face up, no question. He wanted to see everything.

"Yes." Yes, as if there could be no other question. "Slow and thorough." He closed his eyes, but his hips shifted, legs pulling Treize in close to him.

It was welcoming, while he pressed the head of his dick against Wufei's asshole. He felt Wufei's heel flex low against his back, pulling him in until he managed to push past the initial ring of muscle, earning a sharp gasp and a shudder as if the feeling had overwhelmed him for the moment. Possibly it had..

He stopped there, held still, and just breathed, breathed and stroked his hand along Wufei's thigh. "Ohh, that's good. That's..."

"Different." Wufei's voice was low, dark. "Everything feels so much." He was clenching around him, but his hips were starting to rock, needy, wanting.

He shifted, gently, flexing his hips slightly, careful not to push past too much and into something that might hurt. "Yes. Fuck, you feel good, so tight. I--" Damn, he wanted to move.

Wanted, and Wufei was pulling him in with his legs, fingers rising to touch his own nipples, and fuck but that was pretty. So lovely to see, and Treize wanted to touch them, too, but he also wanted to watch.

Watch nimble strong hands roll and press and squeeze, and then he did have to take over, because he wanted to make Wufei feel everything, his careful slow thrusts, his fingers on his chest.

"Oh, god." God, and he was pushing to meet Treize's thrusts, to take him in, to have him, and that was something he'd never expected to get once anyone found out he was an Omega. "Yes. Yes."

So tight, clutching around him, and Wufei was breathing hard, panting and begging pleas of yes and stuttered sounds while he just kept moving. Treize got to feel all of him, touch anything, press and toy with those nipples, and make Wufei cry out.

It was blissful. Perfect, and he leaned in, caught that panting mouth in a kiss, and yes. Yes, yes. It didn't, _he_ didn't last as long as he'd wanted to. He wanted it to last forever, but he was kissing Wufei, leaning on an elbow, and stroking him off with his free hand and he wasn't sure what motion made him lose track of what he was doing. It just felt so good, and they were both going to need another bath, and then Wufei was crying out under his mouth and coming, coming, fuck, yes, YES.

So tight around him, spasming and he could feel Wufei's enjoyment in the clutch around him, the flex of his leg, the shaking press of his mouth. The way he fell apart, and Treize was caught up in it, hard and slick and wanting, even when he came.

It was bliss.

It was lovely, and he slouched against Wufei for a moment, kissing him and enjoying the feeling before he moved off and back to lie down beside him, wrapping his arms around Wufei. The easy press of bodies felt nice, and while they needed another bath, everything felt far too pleasant as they rested. Wufei's face was pressed against his collarbone, the sigh of his breath shivering over his skin.

It was lovely; he didn't know what to do next. His plans for the way had ended in self sacrifice, going out in a blaze of glory. Could or should he still do it? He wouldn't be the only sacrifice if that happened. Even if he got lucky and he wasn't carrying, he had an Alpha now, one that appealed to him as opposed to the ones like he had known.

"You're thinking quite loudly."

"Having to drastically rethink plans. Did you have any plans?" It was worth asking, just to see what he was working with in a larger picture.

"To live." Wufei's hand rose, thumb stroking at sweat-dewed skin. "I'm the last of my people."

"My plan did not involve living," he confessed after a moment of enjoying that stroking. "I was working to wrap things up."

The motion ceased, stilled. He could almost hear the way Wufei's heart stopped. "And now?"

He shifted his fingers, curling them against the back of Wufei's neck. "It would be rude to do that."

The way he relaxed felt like obvious relief. "Oh, thank god."

"Need to think of something else to do." He could at least give Wufei a chance, see where this potentially interesting thing went. Treize had read about the link, the bond, but it had never made visceral sense. It was an impossible curiosity.

"You're sneaky," Wufei replied, mouth tilted into a smile against his skin. "I'm sure you'll manage."

"Sleep will help." He pressed his temple against Wufei's hair, enjoying all of that contact. Some small part of him wanted to say damn it, and carry on with his previous plans, make himself a pyre to the family's failed goals. 

Or.

"We'll need to sneak off before dawn."

Wufei shifted, and that wild grin probably would have been a terrifying baring of teeth to someone who was not Treize. "Not a problem. I think we can manage that."

"Sleep for a bit first, though." He'd worked muscles that did not see use in piloting or running or any other form of exercise he did.

That earned him a kiss against his collarbone, the sound of a yawn, and then Wufei seemed to settle in beside him easily and quietly enough.

Maybe...

Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing.

* * *

Wufei hadn't expected any of this.

Some days he still felt dazed, off-kilter, because what the fuck was even happening? Most days, he supposed, felt like that. Still.

Still.

It had been three weeks since they'd snuck out of the compound and he had piloted them -- a tight fit and hilarious -- to the base nearest the Romefeller headquarters. And then Zechs Marquise had fired on the Earth and everything had seemed to fall into place for what Treize wanted. He couldn't quite fathom what was going on in the man's head. It was a maze, a rat's warren of snarled ideas that clicked together sometimes and made bizarre magic.

He had to confess that he liked that a lot more than anyone might have thought.

He spent a lot of time thinking. There was a burst of activity, meetings, coordinating with people in a way that bordered between beta and Alpha. For king of the world, he was very focused at pulling everyone along with him in consensus.

It was impressive. Honestly, quite impressive. Wufei understood now the reasons that no one had ever questioned him, ever thought that he might actually be an Omega. Possibly he shouldn't be that pleased about it, but for some reason, he was.

He had made no excuse at all for why a gundam Pilot had suddenly shown up. The way people were changing sides, moving around, perhaps helped. A former OZ soldier who was the prince of Sanc was threatening to blow up the planet. Why not change sides?

Except that Wufei wasn't. He was on his side, the side of his colony. He always had been.

He always would be.

All he had was himself in that moment, and his goals. He didn't know what to do with the people who were talking to Treize until he saw Sally Po in a contingent.

That at least was someone he knew; whose ideals he knew, and he slipped through the other people to stand beside her, both of them watching the rest of the crowd. "Hello again."

"Wufei." She looked surprised and a little delighted. "I didn't expect to see you here. Are you... with the colony representatives?"

He shrugged, allowing a tiny smile. "No." The smile fell away. "My colony is gone. I'm here to see if we can somehow come to peace."

"There's a group of former Alliance officers who were courted by White Fang and didn't want to. We're seeing if..." Her mouth pulled in distaste. "Perhaps we can align with OZ."

"There are worse things right now." Namely White Fang, which definitely explained why she was here. "I think OZ may be taking a slightly different path than before." He hoped so, anyway.

Hope wasn't the best plan, but with White Fang threatening war, Treize was planning a unified armada. That seemed to catch Sally's attention. "Total control of the sphere?"

Wufei shook his head. "Nothing unilateral. He's looking to form a coalition."

There was a look on her face, partially curious, partially confused. "I would be interested to hear what made you decide to work with him."

No. No, she really would not. "Let's call it a... what's the phrase? Happy accident." He smelled so good in bed. It was like the tension released, and Wufei could pick up faint suggestions of Omega again. He hadn't gone back on the suppressors, and Wufei supposed there was a message in that rather simple action.

Sally shook her head wryly. "None of those in this war. Are you united against mobile dolls?"

"Most definitely. It's cheap, not putting your own life on the line when they can be sent in to destroy so many other lives." More than cheap, in fact. Just considering it was infuriating.

That made sense to her, he could see the faint nod of her head. "At least he's willing to fight. I think we all counted him out of the game too early. That was... poor planning on Romefeller's behalf. He holds a grudge."

He did. That was something Wufei could appreciate about him. Funny, how many of those there were. It was surprising. "He does that. Thus far, I approve of what's going on. I think you'll be fine with it."

A courtier called out an Alliance unit number, one of those half comprehensible things that made Sally jerk her head. "I'll let you know after this meeting. Will you be heading up to space soon?"

"We'll see." He'd be standing behind Treize because that was where he needed to be. He'd grown up knowing that would be where Meiran needed him to be. It wasn't that significant of a change, in the end. His role was what his role was; to be steady and to protect. To offer counsel, whether or not it was something they wanted to hear. His answer clearly drew more questions, but she stepped away with the rest of her people to join the meeting while another group circulated out.

Wufei settled in, shoulders against the wall, and watched people come in and out, in and out. He was pretty sure that things were going well so far. All of the conversation he'd heard had thus far been remarkably positive, all things considered.

And people wanted to be there. He roamed around a little, eavesdropped to generally positive speculation, got himself a cup of tea, and blended in. The people were so eclectic, and... peaceful. All uniforms, only a subtle presence of security. He wondered if that was too lax until he caught the eye of someone across the way that he was fairly certain was part of the Treize faction. They weren't in uniform, though, which explained the lack of security. There were more people wandering around the same way he was, then.

He had free run of the place and could go anywhere, but he was interested in how the meetings were going. And he was interested in how the meeting with Sally went; if she would be joining the battle, if her interesting Alliance cluster would change how the war would be prosecuted.

Well. They'd have to see. No point in worrying himself into a spiral before they even reached that point.

He watched for the doors to open and they didn't. It took ages, and he was thinking about going to do checks on Nataku, when the door at the end of the hallway opened. There was a stream of people, possibly all of the delegations that had been crammed in there, but he didn't see Sally. One of the floating guards walked toward him, and gestured that he follow.

Pushing himself off of the wall, he stepped in behind him, keeping pace as they moved into the room where Treize was waiting.

There were a few OZ officers, Sally, another Alliance officer, and someone that looked more colonial civilian in dress all sitting at a table. "Ah, Wufei -- excellent, thank you for joining us."

Something in him ticked over into suspicion, but he moved forward and seated himself so that he could see Treize directly. "You're welcome."

He got his own flash of smile, but his Omega was in full business mode. "The Armada will be ready in seventy-two hours, and we're hoping for your participation. The fighting has already started in small skirmishes."

"Of course." There was no question of his participation. He'd stand between Treize and anyone who wanted to come close to him. Was it pure biology? Perhaps. The thing of it was, they were connected now, and he was brilliant. Biology or not, emotions would inevitably follow, and he was accepting of that. Beyond accepting. Treize was intelligent and they got along well. He was bright and attractive and the cunning was very hot. He needed to remind himself that the cunning was hot. The biology gave space for that thing to grow, the same way Meiran had grown on him through contact over the years. 

"Excellent. Major Po is leading the rendezvous to support the pilots tomorrow, and I'd like you to go with her. If you're willing."

He was up to something.

Whatever it was, it was clearly sneaky, and almost as obviously something of which he would disapprove. There was no helping it, though. Not without making everything too obvious, and he wasn't willing to do that yet. Particularly not if it might put Treize in any kind of danger. "Of course."

"Excellent. Major Po, Captain Brandt, the intel..." He gestured, and there was a younger officer sliding data pads in front of the three of them.

By the time they'd reviewed everything and settled on a plan, Wufei's teeth were on edge. Everyone else seemed tired but satisfied with their progress, overall, and left still talking.

"I know you're up to something."

Treize leaned back in the chair, hands folded casually in his lap, watching Wufei with hawkishly sharp eyes. "What do you think I'm up to?"

"At a guess?" Wufei raised a single black brow. "Something I'd object to vociferously. You're sneaky." He enjoyed that, shameful as it might be.

"I'm joining the armada." He said that casually, posture still relaxed as he watched Wufei's face. They were alone in the planning room, and the leader of the government was giving a Gundam pilot an audience.

"The hell you say." That response was out before he could so much as pause to think. No. Just. No. No, he was not.

But how did he stop him? Could he stop him? "To do otherwise would feed into the optics that I plan to replace Romefeller in long-term rule."

Wufei's jaw was clenched tightly. "You're... everything that I have," he finally gritted out between his teeth. "I can't, I won't, let you go out there without me at your back."

"I need you to work with the other pilots to stop Marquise. You can do much more for me there. I need to be there to make the show, to make a point." He leaned forward slightly, and it felt like the distance closed a little, like the walls weren't quite so high.

"I need to be beside you." And if he couldn't understand that, then Wufei wasn't sure where to start explaining it. It was at the core of him, making him shudder.

He was quiet, and Wufei wondered if he felt it, too. It was hard to tell what the man was feeling, and his face was too well schooled just then. "Then we'll need to arrange a rendezvous."

"Fine." It wasn't, but it would have to do. "You do realize that this is historically speaking how battles worked with mated pairs, yes?"

"I'll have my signals team make sure that my mobile suit has comms that work for your Gundam. I have never worked as a pair. We aren't a known pair right now. I can't afford that just yet." Treize pushed his chair back slightly from the table.

Wufei's molars ground tightly together. "I'm not asking you to make a declaration. I don't require anything of the sort. I do require that I be allowed to fight with you and protect your back." They hadn't bothered with testing to see if Treize had fetched up; there was no point as yet, although Wufei was sure that he had.

Which made it more frustrating, trying to navigate the balance of... whatever. Whatever the man was doing, when Wufei would have taken off gladly to the wilderness with him. "Then fight with me. Gladly. But we have a short period of time, and I have to know what the Gundams are doing."

"I'll make sure of that." He'd do whatever he could to ensure Treize's safety, and that was part of what was needed to do it.

"Major Po will be looking for you outside." He'd turned the chair to better face Wufei, and seemed on the edge of doing something.

Tilting his head, he waited. It was worth the time spent to see what he might do, after all, and Sally could wait a bit longer. At least in his opinion.

It was better to let the silence stretch and wait. Wufei was patient when it was going to pay off. "Come over here. I have the bigger chair."

Ah, that was what he'd been hoping Treize would say. He made his way to him and promptly settled, legs sprawled around Treize's torso. "I was beginning to think you were going to send me away without so much as a kiss."

"This is the most baffling urge," Treize murmured, sliding his arms around Wufei, and pulling him close. The chair was plush and it was easy to kneel over him, to settle in close enough to feel the other man relax. "Goddammit."

"Did you learn nothing about secondary genders?" Wufei asked quietly, leaning in to press a kiss against the top of his nose. "Nothing baffling about it."

"I went to the military academy when I was ten. Ish." He tipped his head up slightly, pressed his mouth against Wufei's gently. "I was busy."

The amount of raging disapproval he felt was immense. "How did you hide it?"

Treize leaned into him, nuzzling his neck. "My uncle intervened. There was, well. It's a long story. Now isn't the time. I've been on suppressors since I went to school."

Fucking hell.

Wufei would like to take the entire Catalonia family out and horse whip them. Three times over. "And he also never educated you about it." Damn it all.

"I read." He lifted a shoulder at Wufei, epaulet moving in a good dramatic effect. "He didn't want to... make things worse." That was a delicately chosen phrase, as he settled his hands low on Wufei's back. "As an adult, I understand the choices he made on my behalf."

"As an adult, I'd like to throttle the lot of them." He began to pet Treize and wasn't surprised when he loosened beneath the touch. "Right now, it's particularly important that we be close together. The mating is fresh." He didn't bother mentioning the other issue. Best not, he thought. "Particularly for you. And we'll both be violent in defense of one another for a while yet." More than violent.

He enjoyed the feeling of Treize beneath him as he relaxed, the idle kissing at his neck as he touched the other man. "We'll have a great deal of time after these next three days are over."

Perhaps. Or perhaps something would go horribly wrong if Wufei didn't watch carefully enough. He set his mind to the watching, grumpy determined. "Mmm. Yes. That is the plan."

There was a knock on the door at the end of the room, and it cracked open. "Sir. There's communication from White Fang. We'll patch it through."

Wufei was out of his lap so quickly that it might have been dizzying. "Knock before barging in," he barked out roughly, scowling.

"S-sorry! Sorry. I'll. Patch it over." The young woman closed the door quickly, and Treize was still seated where Wufei had left him, looking baffled.

"What? You want to hide this. I know you do. And I don't like it, but I can respect your desires." He hated it, in fact.

"For another few days. For the length of time it takes for that rumor to travel," he said calmly, gesturing to the door, while bringing up the data pad to view the communication.

Wufei's eyes narrowed. "So you meant for her to see that." Because he was sneaky. Of course he'd let the information out like that.

"No. But it's a... useful opportunity." Treize tilted his head a little, and maybe he really did think like that, snapping through ideas and making decisions from a perspective like that. He seemed about to say something, and the video started.

 _"Mon cher cousin."_ How insipid, Wufei thought. _"How are you?"_

"Dorothy, always good to hear from you –– do you have greetings from your new affiliation?" There was something amused, calm about his voice as he leaned back in the chair again, all casual, walls up.

 _"I can't just call and check in to be sure you're doing well?"_ Ah, that sarcasm was much better, Wufei thought. _"After all. You're king of the world, now."_

"How is Relena? She's joined you now, yes?" He dodged it lightly, and Wufei suspected that was normal in their interactions.

 _"Ah, Relena."_ That caught Wufei's attention. _"I'm afraid she had a date with a disaster. What's a girl to do?"_

There was a tilt of his head and he frowned at her. "Are you safe and well?"

That thread of laughter felt unsteady, all wrong. _"I'm safe, in any case. Surely you know about Grandfather by now."_

"Mmm, White Fang mobile dolls. He was going to try to talk the colonies into peace. Relena made an impact on him." And his exile, of course, when everyone else in the organization had decided to stand up to him -- which was the shorter version Treize had given him.

 _"White Fang?"_ Her voice sounded distant, shocked. _"They're the ones?"_

"He was in a Romefeller shuttle headed to Bulge as part of a convoy. It was a White Fang attack, which, if anyone could have negotiated a hasty peace with the colonies , it would have been your grandfather." Through blackmail, Treize had implied to him privately.

 _"I'll have to call you back,"_ he was informed in short order, and then his cousin rang off.

Just what the hell that conversation was about was anyone's guess.

Treize left the datapad in place, and glanced over to Wufei. "Curious. Where were we?"

"What did any of that even mean?" He was curious now. That conversation made about as much sense to him as well. Nothing at all.

"She was with them to spy. For her grandfather, Dermail." Treize turned his full attention back to Wufei, as if he didn't expect to receive a call back. "I should probably draw a chart."

"Quite possibly." Yes, but there were things to be taken care of for now. "Kiss me, and then I'll go meet with Sally."

"I promise I'll coordinate with you." The call had stopped them from going further, and he wanted to stay. They should have gone and ensconced themselves somewhere private, and instead he was going into space ahead of his mate. Wufei had no idea what that would do to either of them. There were stories about fresh matings separated too soon.

Hopefully they'd turn out to be nothing more than stories. Possibly he himself should have done more reading, and he frowned as he leaned in, kissing Treize gently. "You'd better. I'll be furious if you don't."

Treize leaned into it, setting a hand on Wufei's side. "I will. We still have a lot to decide on."

"Yes." Very much, and he took the time to kiss him, slow and thorough and sweet. "I'm going. But only under duress. I'd rather be here with you."

"If I successfully pull this off… You're going to have more than enough time to ask just what you got yourself into." He gave Wufei a last kiss as there was a knock on the door.

"Oh, I'll ask you instead," he murmured, and stepped away from him, clearly reluctant.

Treize watched him leave. He was somehow sure that he was still being watched when he closed the door behind himself and stepped into the hallway to find Sally and the captain from her unit waiting for him.

Right.

It was time to get to work.

* * *

It was going to be the war to end all wars, at least for a little while. And it would probably be his last mech battle if he did it right, if he managed to shock the world. It wouldn't be the way he had originally planned, to go out in glory fighting, not on purpose. But perhaps Zechs would do the honorable thing.

One could only hope, after all.

Tallgeese II was in place, and he could see where the White Fang mobile dolls were beginning to line up, positioning themselves even as his own faction and their compatriots were moving into position.

He rolled his shoulders, one last stretch in his somewhat uncomfortable spacesuit, and hailed the Libra. His old bet with Marquise about not piloting in Space with a suit on was over; there was no point in honoring old games just then. "White Fang -- the unified forces of Earth and the colonies await the stand down of your forces."

The reply, when it came, was not unexpected. _"I will follow the will of my father and his desires for peace. I will not stand down; I will fight until you have no choice but to accept the stupidity of war and the desperate need for complete peace."_

"The Earth Sphere United Nations can't allow you to complete Operation Meteor and destroy Earth. This is your final opportunity to stand down your forces." He shifted his hands on the controls, bracing himself.

_"I will not."_

And that was that, it would seem.

"Then fire on us. Fire on _me._ End this." Not Earth, not Earth, and if the intel Wufei had gained was correct, one shot fired would gain them all space.

The immediate lighting up of the comm from Altron Gundam wasn't surprising. He'd catch hell eventually... if he lived.

There was no sound as the beam cannon brightened further, and Treize's heart was in his throat.

So devoted to 'peace' was Marquise that he was willing to use a weapon of that magnitude not as a deterrence that could never be used, as a threat too dangerous to use, but as something to swat down a single enemy. It could destroy a colony, the planet if it were aimed correctly but his insensate anger would use it indiscriminately. Not a proper attack in any sense at all, but he had asked for it, hadn't he?

His heart was on the verge of outright stopping as it brightened, and he didn't dare to move, but he knew he needed to. He needed to do _something_ , and he could see Wufei's Gundam, thrusters sending him flying toward him, but he wouldn't be in time.

He wasn't going to be in time.

He didn't expect the jarring hit from behind, that sent him surging forward and to the side, pivoting to see a Virgo catch half of the blast as it hit.

What the hell?

What the hell, and his brain seemed to have ground to a halt, even as he heard Lady's voice over the comm. _"Your Excellency, a battle is most beautiful when it's being fought. You have to live long enough to fight, so perhaps next time don't invite someone to fire on you."_

He stared in wonder for a moment, and then fired up his comms, flicking the switch to broadcast to everyone in the armada. "All units, fire on the Libra!"

And that was that. Everything was chaos, mobile dolls swirling around them, and Lady was calling for rescue. He drew his thermal sword, and Wufei's Gundam slowed in front of him. He flicked on the comms, not at all surprised to hear him yelling, panicking.

He shut off the broader channel, taking sight of where he was in the field and what was going on. "We'll protect Une until the haulers get here." Get Wufei to focus, give him a step in the battle.

 _"Right."_ Sharp, and he could feel the terror and fury underneath it, but Wufei was at his back, and that was... it was appallingly a relief, almost as if there had been a tension that he hadn't even realized filling him and that somehow made it better.

Like he could breathe again, when he hadn't noticed it before, or was it because he had looked long and slow down the barrel of his own death. Dolls started to come in to them, and he focused on them, very basic clear and kill, buying Une time.

And then the dolls ringed around him, drawing in and facing... outward?

Today was not going to plan. It was going nothing like to plan, and all of it was just logic defying. Why would White Fang's mobile dolls be protecting him?

He tried to hail them, but there was no comms channel to the mobile dolls, and White Fang's few manned forces seemed to fall into disarray, turning on their own forces. Instead he opened up over the armada comms with an order to focus on the Libra. The Gundams looked like they were attempting to board it, which was excellent.

Maybe all of this wouldn't be a complete disaster, after all.

 _"What the hell is happening?"_ Wufei asked him, and he was audibly scowling. _"Why have these abominations surrounded us to keep other people away?"_

Treize continued to survey the area around them, looking around in wonder as the wreckers approached to get Une. The dolls let them pass. "I think there's dissent within White Fang."

 _"Thank god for small favors."_ He sounded a bit confused and also suspicious. There was good reason for being suspicious, though, all things considered.

They could pivot and kill them at any moment, though he was grateful for the reprieve for a moment. He needed to get out there, but for the moment the wreckers were taking Une back to their command center, and the other White Fang dolls were turning on the Libra.

His comm lit up, and he reached forward, flicking it open. _"Mon cher cousin. Be careful when I release the mobile dolls."_

"We'll get out of the way. Thank you." Une was far away enough, so he moved to slip loose, knowing Wufei would follow.

They continued on, drifting back to back at first, and it felt stupidly right and perfect, just that closeness. It was undoubtedly dangerous, because if he felt this way, Wufei probably did, too, and it wasn't battle optimal, to say the least.

There were still too many pilots from the White Fang side who were alive, and that broke him from his quiet mental reverie. It was funny, though. It did feel so right, so peaceful, all because the pilot from L5 was the first person to bite him on the neck. He wondered if he would have felt so stupidly peaceful about it if it had been Mirialdo.

There would be time to reflect on that later. For now, there was fighting to be done, and he started to look for Mirialdo. He'd turned toward Libra, and when he found him, Wing had taken him on.

Good.

Very good. It left him just to fight; no big dramatic battle, nothing but starting to cull through the few dolls that hadn't been pulled into whatever net Dorothy had on them.

After that, it was almost boringly routine for them; destroying mobile dolls, knowing they had time before the beam cannon charged again, and it felt like a strange and dangerous pirouette between them, dancing forward and back, emotionally linked and aware.

He was brightly aware of that emotional link; it was foreign, and it felt different than his usual headspace when he was fighting. It was like having Vingt there, but closer. He was tired, but that was what came with piloting for so long; he checked the time, pleased with the progress they had made by the time the ship seemed to be angling to crash toward the atmosphere.

It was a movement made together; shifting in space and getting closer, and the other Gundams were there then, too, all of them firing to try and break up the ship so that it wouldn't breach the atmosphere whole and create a disaster of epic proportions. Wufei's Dragon Fang was arching, and they were all working hard to destroy every piece careening toward Earth.

The destruction, some self destruct or perhaps something the scientists had done, was effective, but some pieces were large enough to kill everyone below as surely as a colony would have. As it was, the debris field alone would be havoc on communications, weather, GPS satellites. If they managed to destroy everything.

The dober gun was more useful just then, so he kept firing, firing and firing, trying to keep an eye open for any last minute attacks from desperate White Fang members.

It all felt horrifyingly too easy to him, dissatisfactory. It made him paranoid, and he could tell without speaking that he wasn't the only one on edge.

But Deathscythe struck the final blow on the chunk of ship that was threatening to get dangerously close. Other than the rocking of the explosion and a wary retreat back to the control center, that was that. 

It had been hours, far too long to be piloting anything, and he was exhausted; he could even feel how exhausted Wufei was. They needed a rest. There was simply no way it could be over. It was all too easy. The battle between Epyon and Wing was over and there was nothing in sight, all of the mobile suits and mobile dolls coming to a stop around them, and he just couldn't believe it.

The human factor had won. The human factor had stopped the dolls; their controls broken, destroyed with the Libra, but before that, their initial programming had been snapped, changed.

From the inside. Dorothy, he knew, and he hoped she had gotten off the ship.

 _"Treize."_ Wufei's voice sounded just as suspicious as he felt. _"Is that... all?"_

"Seems to be. There's politics now." And he wanted to drink something, piss, though it was possible he'd sweated it all away, which wasn't a good sign. He wanted to eat and sleep.

 _"Right. Back to MO-II?"_ That voice was steady, serious.

"Yes. See what state the negotiations are in. Sleep." He wondered if he was still going to be yelled at for what he'd done at the start of the battle. That was an amusing thought.

"The negotiations can wait for you to sleep," Wufei informed. "And shower. No one negotiates well exhausted."

"Knowing my staff, they've started without me." He stretched his shoulders, feeling weary and knowing the hardest part would just be docking and getting out of the cockpit, and keeping his alertness up during this last part of transit. Dolls. They would have to collect them up, gut and repurpose them. What a waste of resources. "Are you well?"

 _"Yes."_ Yes, and he was moving toward MO-II now, lingering to keep an eye on Treize.

Treize didn't mind the quiet. He could hear the line was open, could faintly hear Wufei's breathing. The transit was peaceful, with most other incoming mechs on similar conservation pace to leave the field of battle. Some were coming back out to police the area just in case, to protect the wreckers and rescue mechs, but it was otherwise an orderly degradation. They filled one of the bays on MO-II to capacity, and he waited for the signal over the comms system that they had reached pressure in the bay and that pilots could open hatches. 

For just a few minutes more, no one cared about Alpha, Beta or Omega. They were all former combatants, and they were all tired and dehydrated and full of adrenaline.

They were all humans.

Pushing open the hatch, Treize stood and stepped out onto the surrounding walkway where Wufei was waiting.

And then everything went funny; the world was dark at the edges and Wufei's face was panicked. His hand reached out and he meant to ask him what was wrong, but his words wouldn't work and his legs were strange beneath him, and....

* * *

When Treize fainted, Wufei's heart jumped into his throat, eyes widening. He didn't make it in time to keep him from falling to his knees, but he did catch him before his head could hit the floor.

"Oh holy shit. Hey, we got a...!" Duo's voice broke through his panic, and then he was kneeling down to try to help Wufei. "Jesus, maybe he's had a fucking aneurysm." He was waving an arm wildly at the control room which was probably going to get a response.

"No," Wufei denied, because he'd feel that, he was fairly certain. "It's just dehydration and exhaustion." And the fact that he was probably carrying, but he didn't feel the urge to reveal that. Treize's head was cradled against his thighs, and he gently patted his cheek.

"He fainted? Heh." Duo grinned, standing there with his hands on his hips and looking around because there were definitely people coming down from the viewing box. "What's with the petting?"

Did he admit it or didn't he? Wufei made a split second decision. "Don't tell anyone," he hissed quickly. "We're, ah. Mated."

"What? No that's crazy you can't both be, what, I mean you can but." He scratched at the back of his head, and halfway unzipped his spacesuit because it was damn hot. That was probably a good idea. 

And then there were a couple of Oz officers approaching. "Sir, do we need medical?"

"Yes, please." Treize wouldn't be happy about it, but he wasn't aware to be able to protest. "He probably just needs an IV."

That got an understanding nod, and the man called something out over his comms line, while Duo just about danced beside him, looking around and then looking down at Treize in Wufei's lap.

He was probably dying to ask questions, if by probably Wufei meant absolutely. "I'll explain all of it later." They'd gotten to know one another rather well while they were held captive on the moon base. He could almost read the flicker of Duo's eyebrow, truth be told.

"Uh-huh." Duo inhaled, and then seemed to catch something and sniff.

Treize was already coming around, turning his head into the fingers on his cheek. "Hmn?"

"Hello, again." Wufei's thumb caressed over a cheekbone. "Welcome back to the world."

"Why am I on the floor?" He didn't try to sit up yet, just looked up at Wufei, comfortable there. It did feel good to touch, to be closer than through mechs. 

"You fainted, boss dude."

Ah, that was a mortified expression if ever he'd seen one. "Dehydration," Wufei explained in short order. "Not unsurprising. We've all sweated through everything we're wearing."

"Ah." He closed his eyes, apparently not about to protest his position. It would have been worse if he'd cracked his head, and Wufei wanted to feel the closeness just then, even if it was interrupted by the soldiers coming back with a gurney.

"Better to be safe, sir, we'll just give you a quick once over."

Wufei wanted to bare his teeth and demand that they step back, but it would reveal too much too soon for Treize to be happy about it. Instead, he moved away and allowed them closer.

Betas, they were betas and they thought Treize was one and that of course the pilots were all crazy Alphas. There was no need to step off on them like that, so he watched while they helped Treize to his feet, legs still uneasy about supporting him. "We'll just take you up to medical, sir, and I'm sure you'll be out in no time," one was chattering on, while Duo stood beside Wufei, watching in deep curiosity.

"Don't start," Wufei advised him, because no. Just no. He knew Duo altogether too well.

Duo was quiet while they wheeled Treize off, and he turned to survey who else was in the hanger with them. A lot of OZ pilots, but some random colony pilots. The other Gundam pilots were probably in another bay. "Just gonna let them go off with him, huh?"

Shrugging, he watched them go, gaze sharp. "I don't have to be happy about it, but he can take care of himself."

Duo's eyebrows were doing a lot of work, trying to convey a whole conversation to Wufei while he gestured to him to come along with one hand. "I mean, I know your wife was a Beta."

Yes. Yes, she had been. "There were no Omegas on L5. They're fairly rare among my people." The fact that Treize had been a surprise, mouthwatering and utterly impossible to resist, wasn't something that everyone needed to know.

He could let his mind dwell on that more once they had privacy, after Treize took care of whatever came next. Wufei didn't think he was actually going to step away from work just then, though he needed to. "Sooo?" Duo's voice tilted up as they walked to the doors to get out.

"So what?" Wufei raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He knew Duo wasn't going to let any of it go.

Duo didn't let things go.

Once they stepped out into the hallway, there was chaos and people coming in from other bays. There were other gurneys, and Wufei swore he saw Quatre being taken past, and a woman Wufei didn't know but possibly had seen before. That was the only way to explain Trowa suddenly showing up in the hall. 

"We should find a side room to crash in and regroup."

Quite true. Wufei agreed, nodding at him. "What happened there?"

Trowa shrugged. "Got shot. Him and Dorothy Catalonia. White Fang decided there was a fifty-fifty chance of getting rid of her depending on which helmeted figure they shot, so someone shot both of them."

"Was Heero in with you guys? I saw Wing on my way over." Duo looked up and down the hallway and then seemed to pick a direction to go in.

"Last bay to the left," Trowa informed, and looked at Wufei. "Any idea where they'll be holding meetings?"

Wufei shook his head. "We'll ask someone on the way."

"Fuck meetings, man, I need a damn meal and a nap," Duo complained. "Fucking king of the world there hasn't been out the fight as long as we all were and I bet he's got food and sleep."

"He passed out," Wufei pointed out. "They've probably got a banana bag leading into his veins, more to the point."

"Yeah, not impressed. Or maybe that's what happens when you're old." He was fucking baiting Wufei and they both knew it.

From behind them there was a shout of, "Heero!" Relena had a natural skill for finding him in any size crowd.

Trowa and Wufei both looked at Duo. He didn't look depressed; if anything, that call seemed to have cheered him up. "Right. Going to find the significant others," he told them happily, and went in that direction.

It left him and Trowa at loose ends but then he saw Sally coming toward them down the hallway. "Oh good -- here, I'll take you upstairs."

"Is everyone meeting or are we all allowed to get some rest first?" Wufei asked promptly. He would rather go to the infirmary.

"You all need rest. There are rooms available on the above deck. We're working who needs to stay for further negotiation and who we can retrograde." We, that boded well. Sally bought into the process.

"And which way is the infirmary?" He had a feeling that Trowa would want to know where it was as much as he did. People still gave strange looks at Alpha/Alpha relationships, but he had a feeling that Trowa didn't give a damn about what other people thought. Wufei didn't give a damn, either.

Sally sized up both of them and then headed for an elevator. "This way. I'll have them bring you food."

That was why he liked her. She was practical and she read people remarkably well. "Thank you."

The ride up the elevator was quiet, and she led the way without hesitation to the small private bays tucked into a room that was past the initial triaging area. "Trowa, Quatre is in surgery, but his room will be there."

"And Khushrenada?" Wufei asked, noticing the slight widening of Trowa's green eyes before he blinked away the look.

"This way." Apparently she knew that without having to check, and turned to the left to swipe a keycard at a door.

It opened onto a back hall, rooms down one side, and Wufei followed her to where he heard Treize's grumbling. He paused in the doorway, head tilted to the side, and he hadn't been wrong. There was an IV full of fluid being fed into him, so he would undoubtedly feel better in short order. "I see you're feeling more like yourself."

"This is ridiculous, I'm fine," he commented. He was also propped up in bed, stripped down to a tank top and whatever bed sheets were covering at hip level.

"Sir, you're clearly exhausted." Sally seemed amused as she leaned against the doorjamb.

"And dehydrated," Wufei added, moving further inside and leaning his back against the wall. "What's it hurt to rest? Everyone else is going to do the same."

He gave an amused sort of snort, crossing his arms over his chest. "I suppose I can, if you'll keep me company."

With a shrug, he pushed off of the wall and pulled a straight back chair closer to the bed. "Might as well. I'm pretty sure they'll feed us, too."

"Someone will be by shortly." She looked between them, and seemed to be looking at the back of Wufei's neck, and found nothing. That was almost offensive. "Press the button there if you feel unwell."

"Of course," Treize replied, and Wufei tilted his head so that he could see her from the corner of his eyes, then smiled.

"All right." She checked the signs on the monitor, and then stepped away. The door closed, leaving them alone. Treize seemed to relax a little.

"I can't believe I fainted."

Wufei leaned back and looked at him. "It was a stressful battle. I'm still sweaty and disgusting, and I could drink a gallon."

"There's water." He turned, twisting a little to snag a pitcher from the opposite side of the bed. Wufei could see the bite there in all its glory because a sweaty tank top didn't hide much.

It was beautiful.

 _He_ was beautiful, and Wufei glanced to the open doorway before he was up and kissing him quite firmly.

Glorious.

The pitcher was forgotten, and Treize leaned into him, kissing him back. Pulled him in closer, sliding a hand up at the back of Wufei's neck. He didn't mind being sweaty then at all, and Treize started to pull at Wufei's spacesuit.

He couldn't help chuckling. "Here in front of god and everybody, sweaty and gross and everything?"

"We didn't die." He stopped at halfway unzipping the suit, sliding a hand in to ruck up fabric, sighing. Wufei could feel his fingers brush bare skin against his side.

"We didn't die," he agreed, leaning in to catch his mouth. "Should I at least shut the door?" He'd do almost anything for a shower, and Treize probably felt the same.

The man leaned into him, and just held onto him, not quite letting go. If the man wanted to keep it a secret he was doing a bad job of it. "We should probably wait for food. But we're alive."

Wufei couldn't help the way he softened, a sigh slipping loose. "We're alive," he murmured, and his fingers were stroking over the bite.

His. His idiot, brilliant Omega, who clearly needed to read more about what they were experiencing. He sighed against Wufei, and pressed his mouth against Wufei's neck. "We need to work out what we're doing."

"Yes." So many things, in fact, but for now they were alive, and that was something. That was rather remarkably something, and he sighed, letting his head fall to the side, putting it on offer.

"You'd let me?" Treize had kept nuzzling there, clearly wanted to, and the hand at his side slipped in beneath his tank and his spacesuit to touch against his back, pulling him in closer.

A shudder rippled through him. "Oh, yes. Please." Please please please, because just thinking about it made his heart set up a triphammer.

The touch was delicate first, a tasting, the pressure of teeth light against skin, and then a kiss, and then the threat of pressure again. He enjoyed Treize's dick, enjoyed everything they had done in bed, enjoyed fighting back to back with him even if he took unbelievable, unbearable risks with his life. With their life. There was pain in the bite, yes, but it would strengthen the bond.

The second that his teeth broke skin, Wufei gasped and the bond slammed open and locked into place in a way that was dizzying, a rush of emotion and bliss that he'd never imagined feeling before in his life. It was perfect.

It was unthinkable, and Treize pulled back, kissing the mark softly, hauling Wufei onto his lap and somewhere in there he still had an IV line going into his arm. "Oh. Oh, this is why my mother lost her mind."

"Mmmm." He couldn't help it, almost a purr, and Treize kept licking, tongue lapping up the blood. Wufei could feel his lashes fluttering and the way that sensation rippled through him with every touch. "Oh." He'd had no idea it would feel like this.

He enjoyed sprawling over Treize's lap, melted in against him, could feel every touch like a spark, the drag of fingertips low on his back beneath his suit. "This is amazing."

Wufei let out another little sound, because this was remarkable. "Yes." More than, even, and he curled into him, sighing. "Wow." He could smell Treize, very faint, just that slight warm suggestion of Omega as they laid there curled against each other.

There was the sound of a tray being set down. "I did wonder."

He couldn't bring himself to move or even shift off of Treize. He didn't care, and Sally was good at keeping secrets. "Mhm."

She dimmed the lights in the room. "Meetings formally start tomorrow at noon. General, I'll be back in a couple of hours to give that bag time to finish. Then you'll be released."

"Thank you." He pressed fingers possessively against Wufei's back, a particular flex, and Wufei sighed, grateful when the door closed behind her. It meant that he didn't have to think, he could just sit there and enjoy the pleasant hum of things between them.

It was perfect. He'd never known that it would be like this, and he realized that he was petting Treize's hair, full of dried sweat like his own, a little spiky. "In a couple of hours, we can get clean."

"And sleep," he agreed, voice pitching down softly as he leaned into the petting of Wufei's fingers. He clearly enjoyed it. "And then perhaps in a week or two we'll do a test."

"Perhaps." He shifted, burying his own face in Treize's throat and kissing the mark there. He was so appallingly pleased that it felt preposterous. It felt unreal. He'd thought that the books must surely be exaggerating the information about bonds. Turned out that they'd understated it immensely.

There was no way of putting into words the curling ease and warmth that wrapped around them as they laid there. It was heightened by the aftermath of the battle, of course, but oh, he could see himself following Treize anywhere to keep that deeply pleased feeling.

No wonder Alphas and Omegas were so dangerous in battle. He'd kill anyone that came close to Treize right now, much less someone trying to harm him.

He didn't think he'd have to, though. They had peace and quiet, warmth, and a much needed chunk of time together.

Nearly an hour later, Wufei pulled away reluctantly, his knees creaking from where he'd knelt for so long. His thumb was still rubbing at the soft skin behind Treize's ear. "Food," he murmured. "You should eat."

It got him a soft hum of compliance, and then Treize kissed him one more time, and pulled away fractionally. "We both need to eat." The door was closed, the lights were dimmed, and it would be comfortable to sit together and snack. "I'm going to resign. I suppose I should see what the opening volley is before announcing it."

Wufei couldn't help leaning in and kissing him, mouth gentle as it brushed against Treize's. "Let's see what she brought."

Sandwiches, already wrapped to go if they wanted to make an escape, but the bag wasn't empty just yet, so they could loiter long enough to eat. "Ah, the easiest thing to turn out when the kitchens are slammed."

He had a feeling that everyone didn't have the same thing somehow, and that Sally was just smart enough to bring them something that wouldn't go cold. Wufei felt a smile sneak over him, and his eyes closed, a sigh drifting loose. Oh.

_Oh._

Treize gave a soft chuckle, and bit his sandwich. "I'm trying to think perfectly reasonable things and it keeps falling off a cliff."

"If this is how this feels, it's no wonder people prize Omegas so highly. It feels..." Wufei let out another sigh, drifty and slow now. "It feels as though you're the only person in the world."

"Yes. It rather..." Treize set his sandwich down after another bite, pacing himself. "Hmn, things I would not have considered now seem possibilities."

"Oh?" He was curious what those things were, but mostly he was just... disgustingly smitten, actually. God help him.

"Settling down with anyone at all." Not killing himself in battle -- that was clearly a work in progress, though Wufei had felt his sheer surprise that Zechs had fired on him with the beam cannon. "A family."

Yes.

Yes, he wanted that with a desperation that he hadn't realized before now. "You'll be a good father." Or possibly a disaster, considering he'd been raised in a military academy and had no idea about his secondary gender or how any of that worked. Still. Together, they would manage, and it would be good. Wufei was sure it would be good.

"Hmn, might be terrible, but I'd be hard pressed to be worse than my own family. It's... strange to think of. Always thought of myself as a secondary-genderless Beta, with a twice a year inconvenience." He did pull at Wufei's suit better, eased his arms out of it, folded down to his waist. He was still sweaty under it, at least a little. The thing was meant to be safe in space, so that wasn't a surprise.

"What you are is perfect, for me." He let himself lean in, press his forehead against Treize's. "We stink."

"Mm, reeking. I have a very small suite up a floor, if we can get out of here." Take their sandwiches and go. Treize turned his head a little, eyeing the taped into place IV inside his arm.

"She'll be back soon, don't even think about it." He'd said that to Meiran before, too. Apparently he had a type.

Stubborn, willful, likely to do something their own way regardless of whether it was wise or not. Seeing him in the Tallgeese model had been... heart stopping. Wounding. He wasn't sure, but it was all too close, one loss too near another potential one. "Ah. Then you have time to eat some."

"Yes." Yes, and they would have to talk about that at some point. They would have to talk about a lot of things, but Wufei settled to one side of him and opened up the sandwich.

Soon.

They would have time to talk soon.

* * *

It wasn't what he had thought he would do after the war. Not that he had planned to survive the war, except for a badly timed heat caused by withdrawal from suppressants. 

He was very much enjoying his morning view, even if Wufei slept heavier than he did. The blinds let a comfortable amount of light in that early, enough that he could watch Wufei's face. Every now and then, he'd shift, give a little puffing sort of snore, and settle down again, eyes closed still.

It was ridiculous and sort of adorable in a way that made his chest go warm and soft in a funny way that he had never expected to have.

The Thing they weren't talking about was starting to show.

It wasn't really a concept he was comfortable with, and Wufei was extremely perceptive. Into the territory of enabling fully his own bad behavior. He took vitamins and had stopped drinking, but that had been his only personal nod to it so far. 

He was still trying to work out how to come out to the world, and his mind was honestly numb now that he'd stepped away from the war. Everything felt two steps apart from the world somehow, as if being alive and not being a major part of government or dead was some strange dream that made no sense.

Nothing made any sense; nothing but this, and it was something that he had never imagined for himself -- an Alpha, lying there with him, sleeping with the occasional light snore, and all of the feelings that came with it. Not being at war or in charge for the first time in his life. Or preparing for it, before then. He could get up and at least put the kettle on. Or steam buns. He had been off being a complete tourist, and that involved trying to experience and enjoy everything that the city around them offered. Wufei went with him most days, telling him bits of history and odd interesting things that he knew about historical sites. It was different from being in Europe, where he knew everyone and everything and was bored because most of them had been owned by some family he knew into perpetuity.

His Alpha thought history was interesting and archaeology was fascinating, so he had been contemplating going back to school as the world had settled into peace around them.

Why not? 

But for now they rented a house near where the Liung and the Chang clans had once lived, and Treize was finding a rhythm and amusement in his days. It wasn't terribly demanding. The house was beautiful, classically Chinese, and Treize found that he loved the siheyuan style of it. Whoever had built it had incorporated modern techniques throughout while maintaining the typical style, and something about it felt soothing and warm. The privacy of the courtyard was nice as well. He could stand being an outsider for a while, maybe a long while; it gave him new things to learn.

It did feel so typically Omega, which annoyed him -- uprooting themselves to follow their Alpha's interest, quitting their job, immediately getting pregnant. It was like he'd found the checklist of stereotypes.

Ugh.

"You're thinking very loudly," Wufei mumbled, pressing his face against Treize's chest. "I like it."

"Pondering getting up to put breakfast on." There was a woman down the road who made buns and all sorts of treats that just needed to be steamed or baked or fried up, which was about Treize's skill and interest level.

"Mmmm." An arm wrapped around him, holding him close. "I like you here, like this." Very much like this. It was rather remarkable how much he liked it, too. He still wondered some days if it would be like this with anyone else, either this easygoing give and take or the fact that Wufei acknowledged that he actually had a cock and rather enjoyed it.

Particularly that last one. 

Getting fucked was quite enjoyable, but he liked going both ways. He liked Wufei's body, liked listening to him talk about things he was interested in. "I like this, too. I was just thinking how much I'm enjoying it."

Another hum answered him, Wufei's hand petting at his hip. "Good. It'd be hard for you to get rid of me now."

No, it wouldn't, but yes, it would. Treize hummed in agreement, closing his eyes for a moment. "Do you have a preference for how I handle coming out?"

That petting continued, thumb soothing at the skin where his body was starting to change, just a little. Hardly at all. "However you feel is best for you. I've hidden a lot of things, but never quite like this."

He tilted his head back slightly, pondering that touch, letting himself feel it. "No matter what I do, I'm sure I'm doing it wrong somehow," he drawled. "Politics, again. This is what the Omeganists rail about."

"'s what Meiran used to say." Wufei talked about his wife with ease, at least with Treize. That was good, he thought. "She was always angry about it even though she was a beta. It was..." That thumb continued to rub gently. "It was one of the best things about her. Gave me a different perspective, I suppose."

"Tell me about her anger." Thinking about it made him smile, because he was sure he would have liked her, had the world been different.

Wufei's face turned more into his chest for a moment and then away again. "She was a furious feminist, despite the fact that we lived in a matrilineal society. She was angry that women who weren't that fortunate were treated badly, and that turned to the eighteenth century C.E. way that people seem to think Omegas should live. She said it was bullshit." Rub, rub, rub. "She wasn't wrong."

He stretched out that leg, letting Wufei rub and pet all he liked. "And yet I quit my previous life and moved to follow my Alpha. I can see how this narrative will be written if I let it come out softly." Which had been his original instinct, but less so now.

A little motion of his shoulders was felt. "So make it not about me. Tell them you wanted to show me my homeland and you found it beautiful. Tell them whatever you like. It isn't a threat to my manhood." Or his status as Alpha.

He hummed, and it was an easier way to have that conversation. Holding and not looking at each other. "It is beautiful here. There will be... a lot of stories. Most of them will flatter your manhood." And threaten his.

"So make up a story that will remind them of yours." Wufei shifted, chin moved so that it was gently planted on Treize's chest as he looked up at him. "People can say whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. I don't care what they think of me so long as we're here and happy and together."

He moved his hand, and curled fingers against the side of Wufei's head. "I love you. But I would like to control the narrative; it might be useful later. Or not. It might be important to some other closeted Omega."

That curl of his mouth was intimate, familiar. "Like Heero."

"Like Heero. How did you know he was one?" He kept his idle petting up. It might be important to non closeted Omega. He needed to do it with care.

Leaning in, Wufei kissed his shoulder. "Trowa. After he tried to self-destruct, Trowa took him to seek medical care. We'd stayed in contact after I met you on the yacht. He thought Heero would want it to be kept secret, but he'd never learned much more about Omegas than you had, so he called me when he had a similar problem to yours. There was more time to prepare as opposed to walking in like an idiot and... well."

"You could have." That was an interesting story, and it made him wonder what he had missed out on by handling things the way he had. Wufei's dick had felt so very good, particularly when it knotted, better than any toy.

"We could have done a lot of things, but it wasn't... it didn't... Well. I did tell you I prefer someone to say yes. Audibly. As it happens. You were just a surprise." He smiled at Treize, and it made him sigh. "Plus, Trowa called much earlier on than when I came to you. We had time for... supplies."

"I feel like I've made very sad lifestyle choices," Treize sighed, curving fingers along Wufei's jaw. "I didn't think things that enjoyable sounding were an option without it spiraling out of control." And irony of ironies, it had already spiraled out of control.

Wufei's head was gently placed on his chest again, and then he yawned. "I'm okay with your lifestyle choices. It meant I had time to find you."

"I probably would have ended up with Mirialdo, which always seemed such a miserable option." He closed his eyes for a moment. "My mother miscarried at a holiday party to great trauma for everyone involved."

Wufei shifted, sitting up beside him. "That's traumatic for almost anyone. Even when you aren't an Omega." He felt him lean in, and the kiss that he pressed against Treize's mouth was sweet and warm. "We can talk about it whenever you're ready."

Might as well make it a day, Treize decided, sliding a hand against Wufei's back. "It was mine. Or she was molesting Vingt, too, but I didn't think she was."

Wufei seemed to go still at that, and then he turned to look at him and his face... well. "Your mother," he said blankly. "I'm going to say something awful now. So if you don't want to hear it, now is the time to tell me."

"I'm curious what it would be." He kept up the touch, watching Wufei's face. It felt like a weird relief to have that out there and known.

"People who do that deserve to burn in hell for eternity." He didn't look at all guilty about it; if anything, his jaw had a truculent set to it as if he would fight about it given half a chance.

"She suffered a great deal in life. But I didn't like her." He could understand mentally how, he could model it. He couldn't justify it, didn't want to. Didn't need to. It had been so patently strange from the onset. "But you can imagine this stirs up a lot."

"Yes." Said without hesitation, but there was something there, clearly something he didn't want to think about or say. "If you... don't want to."

"Come out as an Omega? I really do think I should rip that metaphorical bandaid off. Before someone else does." He needed to start going to doctors appointments, that was part of the process, wasn't it? It was an easy way to bat away a suggestion that personally felt unpalatable.

There was warmth in that smile and the way his hand curled against Treize's jaw before he leaned in, pressed their lips together, soft and sweet. "Let's get breakfast."

"I'll let you make the tea. Yours tastes better." He could take a mental break, space out in the garden. Call Une perhaps as a test balloon to be sure of how he was shaping it all, but with time zones that would wait until the afternoon. "What were you going to look at today?"

Wufei stood from the bed, stretching. "I was thinking of going down to the dig an hour away if you were interested. They've found some interesting things near those springs. Some kind of tablets warning that they're all cursed."

Treize didn't loiter, because Wufei's idea of the best time to get up was late as it was; and he liked the close linger while they pulled on robes and went about their mornings. 

Some part of him had been grimly waiting for Wufei to show some side of himself that wasn't just a thwarted academic, a thoughtful, interesting person, but it hadn't happened. "The tablets or the springs?"

Ah, that did get him a lovely smirk. "The springs. Apparently if someone drowns in one, then whoever falls in takes on the form of the drowned person. Hopefully," he continued thoughtfully, "their live form."

"That's fascinating. I'll go. And if it's not interesting enough, I can find a shady spot and try writing out my plan." He'd bring a snack for both of them and a thermos of tea for relaxing. That and a pen and notebook was serving him quite well for their trips.

"I'll go scrounge up tea then, and set the buns to steam." One more kiss. "After I pee."

He took his time stretching after Wufei stepped away, taking his time to make sure his back was still agreeing. Sometimes it was nice to give each other a bit of bathroom privacy. Treize had never been in any long term relationship, and he'd always enjoyed his bathroom time to himself. Wufei, on the other hand, had zero modesty and wandered in to urinate one morning when Treize was brushing his teeth without so much as a _by your leave._ He had shared bathrooms in his life, often enough that he cherished not having to, so it was amusing. By the time he had acclimated and stretched, Wufei was moving to the downstairs. The last battle in Tallgeese had been almost two months ago, but he still felt somewhat battered. It was hard to explain, and he suspected it was healing from the same strains that had killed Meiran.

It was no wonder Wufei had demanded he be allowed to guard his back, all things considered. They had at least talked about that, Wufei whispering to him in the dark, telling him about the way that she died. It was easy then to let tears come and bury his face in Treize's chest, much easier than if they had talked about it in the light. So that was something else they had in common. It was easier to discuss the hard things in the bookend moments of the day, when the world was reduced down to them and the bed and the comfort of scent and skin. 

He was fairly sure that barring a complete emergency, he was never getting into a mech again. If Zechs had survived, he would have suggested a study of the damage the Tallgeese models could do. Something else to mention to Une. Anne. Whatever she was calling herself. Perhaps that could be his cover for calling her.

There was tea by the time he made his way downstairs, vitamins set out on a napkin beside it, and Wufei was puttering about, having set the buns to steam.

He had never eaten steamed buns in his life before then, and found them a much more interesting breakfast than toast and bacon. There was something about bacon that wasn't settling well with him just then.

"I think I'll call Une later tonight and float a couple of things past her."

"That sounds like a good idea. She's... something else." Wufei meant it, too. Whether he meant it as something strange or something special, well. Who could say? "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

They did take turns on who made breakfast; he'd just had an extraordinarily long think that morning. "I should take a weekend to destroy the kitchen and try to cook some." Or they could keep buying them on the economy, and that was perhaps a wise decision. "Just to better appreciate the skill it takes."

One black brow rose, sharp and amused. "Oh? Have you ever cooked for yourself? Beyond the usual things that don't require actual cooking, I mean."

"Not at all. I have all the skills needed to reheat things, and can possibly follow basic instructions." He grinned broadly at Wufei then, delighting in that arched eyebrow and the dubious twist of mouth that went with it. "Have you ever?"

Wufei smirked back at him. "I'll show you tonight. How is that?" Which would mean grocery shopping beyond just picking up fun things like buns.

"Yes. Yes. And possibly I can put that on my personal to-do list. If you... will allow me to teach you sometime how to ride a horse." He leaned back in the chair, watching Wufei.

"What is that old saying about those? Dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle?" He seemed pleased with himself, though. "Fine. If I can manage a motorcycle, surely I can manage a thoroughbred."

"It'll be fun." And some time off, probably, but he'd get Wufei on one. Eventually. "I have quite a stable at Urspelt. But there's work to be done there, quite a lot, for the restoration."

That sparked interest, he could tell. "Oh? Do tell."

"Castle. Family property, of course, built in the 1500s C.E. We've run it as a hotel since then, and there's a hunting lodge and stables. Quite the property. It was rather spitefully attacked in the last legs of the war; organizing the restoration, Claude says, is going to drive him completely crazy."

Wufei's dark grey eyes lit up in interest. "Will the renovation be historically accurate?"

"Of course. Except for electrical and water -- it's a functioning hotel, after all, but the exteriors and most of the interiors, yes." Had he stumbled across Wufei's secret passion? He had thought the history and digs had been more due to their relationship to Wufei himself. His family's history in the area.

Perhaps it was just an interest in history overall. Interesting.

"Fascinating. When we're done here, we should go there. I'd like to be involved in a historic restoration. Presumably it was updated in various centuries, all the same. Perhaps there's trompe-l'œil?" Well well.

"You have wonderful hidden facets. Yes there was a new wing added in the 1800s, and a further update after the wars in the 1900s, and the wars in the 2000s. Luxembourg and Belgium just end up violated every time Europe flares up. There's a great deal of good history on the property. Probably a lot we've lost track of as well. There was a chapel nearby at one time. No idea where it went."

Oh, that was quite a lot of excitement. "Perfect. I'd say let's leave today, but we've planned to stay here for the rest of the month." He was biting at his lower lip even as he began pulling out the steamed buns.

"What would you say about having... two residences? Something like this here, and staying in Urspelt back there?" He rather enjoyed the feel of the house and town around them, the fact that no one gave a damn about what either of them were doing.

It felt wonderful, as if he didn't have to pose for anyone or present himself as something other than what he was. It was comfortable, and he liked the general anonymity. Even if someone did notice them, they noticed him more because he was tall and clearly European, or at least it seemed that way.

The crinkle around Wufei's eyes felt right, a little indulgent or maybe just incredibly pleased. "I would love that."

"Good. Then we'll have somewhere to live if Claude gives up and burns the place down because he can't find enough period appropriate frippery." He smiled back at Wufei as he brought over the tea.

"I'm guessing you'll also have historical restoration professionals working. That could be an interesting occupation, over time." He had a gleam about him, and Treize rather liked the look of it.

"There is a man we have to bring in to re-lay a stone wall. It's absolutely fascinating," he agreed. Now he just needed to let his brain relax or decompress, and eventually he might think of something he wanted to do. Some diversion that wasn't war.

Perhaps he could write his memoirs.

"Then tell Claude that we'll be coming to assist. Possibly less you than me. Somehow I can't imagine you laying a stone wall," Wufei offered idly, sipping at his tea.

"I'll watch." He took a sly sip of his tea. "But you're right. I'll eventually work out what I wish to do. Not much seems about right at the moment."

Leaning back in his chair, Wufei hummed. "You have sufficient time to think about what you'd like to do."

"It's been very good just to rest." He took another sip of tea, watching Wufei relax. The robe was loose at his chest and that was alluring.

"Better enjoy it now," Wufei told him, and then looked as though he regretted saying anything at all since they hadn't really talked about it.

Treize hummed quietly, and started to pick through a bun. “I have no basis for this experience. Muscle memory should kick in around age two or so, but I don’t recall Vingt before then.”

"You shouldn't worry about it. The Imperial compound had... well, something of a nursery, I suppose you would call it. I have some experience at keeping them entertained. We'll probably have a terribly steep learning curve, but that's what instructional vids are there for, no?"

That made him laugh, because that was delightful. “And books. There’s books on this for Omegas, there has to be. They’re probably impossible shit.”

"It's always obnoxious that people don't seem to think Alphas should have books on it or want to be involved." Wufei was scowling, but it was more like a pout. "I do."

"Hmn, something to look for later. If only because it will need to be ripped apart." At least it was new and possibly baffling to both of them. He sipped at his tea, enjoyed a bite of bun and sighed, closing his eyes. "Haunted pools, you said?"

"Cursed," Wufei corrected. "I seem to remember Xian Pu talking about them when we were children."

"Perhaps it's a way to keep children from drowning in the local aquifers," Treize mused.

"Or maybe it's true," Wufei teased, "and I'll fall into something bizarre. Spring of drowned piglet or something."

"I absolutely ban you from falling in." He said it as imperiously as he could muster, finishing off his bun. It was going to be a very nice day, despite dragging up some less than easy things.

With a snort, Wufei rose. "Because obviously that's going to work," he teased. "I'm going to get dressed."

He finished his tea, stretching for a moment back in the chair. "I'll come up and ogle you." And perhaps a little more than that, because there was a thrill in not having to hide, it was such a relief that he hadn't noticed what it had felt like to hide it until then. In being able to enjoy another person's body. In being able to start enjoying his own.

That sly glance from the side of his eyes sent a thrill through him. "I have no objections to that."

Excellent.

Getting dressed took a while -- particularly when it deviated into lazy mutual masturbation on the bed with Wufei's body pressed against his while half in his lap, legs tangled up. So perhaps he'd missed out on orgies, but he was certainly benefiting from the experience.

The dig was going to take all day, though, and then some, so it was only coming up on noon when they arrived. Wufei was promptly drawn in by one of the archaeologists speaking excitedly in Mandarin, which meant that Treize was safe to call Lady and talk with her.

If only his anxiety about the conversation weren't sitting high in his throat.

Still, that would be one more... thing to discuss. He took the time to settle in at a good distance from the ponds, sitting in the dirt with an interesting sort of tree behind him where he could see Wufei looking at something. Having him within the line of his sight made him feel settled and made everything easier, somehow.

When Anne picked up, he greeted her, and she seemed pleased to hear from him. _"How is China?"_

"It's been wonderful and relaxing." He leaned his head back, closing his eyes for a moment. "How's Brussels?"

 _"You remember when we were first assigned to the base in Algeria?"_ She hummed. _"Precisely like that."_

"Ah, so I have the better bargain. Steamed buns and tea for breakfast. I've finished reading six books. Wufei is helping with or pestering people here at an archeological dig."

 _"That sounds a great deal more entertaining on the whole,"_ she agreed. _"So if you're having such a fabulous time, why are you even calling me? You should be enjoying yourself."_

"It's ended up sort of a contemplative day. I. I'm struggling with how to tell you something. I think you should know before anyone else finds out." He wondered if she had inklings, or how she had explained to herself that immediately after the negotiations he had just run away with a Gundam pilot. To China.

 _"You know you can tell me anything."_ Obviously she wasn't going to give him any indication either way.

He hummed thoughtfully, waffling between explaining it and simply offering it out there. "I'm an Omega."

A long pause came over the line, steady and thoughtful. _"That explains rather a lot, actually."_

"Does it?" That amused him, and he chuckled when he asked it.

_"You were never as obnoxiously likely to chase after someone as most Alphas, but you didn't have the general interest that betas carry around for almost everyone. You did a very good job of not being noticeable. I never would have guessed."_

"I was trying to blend in. I'm glad it worked. I've been putting some thought under how best to come out, since... I'm pregnant. Best to control the narrative." He hadn't said it out loud before, not in those words, and that did an interesting and weird thing to his mind to model that thought out.

 _"Well. You never have done anything by halves,"_ she murmured to herself. _"Congratulations. I never would have guessed. I would have thought it was the other way around. In fact, I'm sure most of the delegates at our final meetings would agree."_

That was the configuration that would have made sense in the world. It amused him to think they had done the unexpected that way. "We were struggling to keep it under wraps at the time. I didn't want to... seem less strong as we closed out those negotiations."

 _"I won't ask anything personal,"_ Anne replied, _"but I will wish you all the happiness one could expect from such momentous events."_

"Thank you. I did want to ask your opinion on how you think this should be handled. My first inclination is to just let it come out, but I don't think that's..."

 _"The best answer, no."_ There was an audible pause, and then she hummed. _"Contact Dorothy. She's been doing an excellent job of courting reporters. She'll know the best one to help you deal with the matter, I think."_

Perfect. Give someone an exclusive, deal straight with the media. "Ah. Thank you, that's a perfect solution." He'd only talked to Dorothy about how she was healing up after her injury, nothing work related. "How do you feel about being a godparent?"

Ah, he liked making her laugh. _"Just promise me you'll both live forever. I don't think I'm prepared to be a parent anytime soon."_

"Oh, neither of us are prepared, but we're working up to it. We'll be back in the area next month, settling in at Urspelt if you need to get away from Brussels any time."

That led to a conversation about the restoration, which led to asking about Claude, which led to the joy of his wife's pastries -- Jacqueline made the most remarkable pastries, and Wufei would love them, he was sure. From there, it wandered to people they both knew and how everything was going.

It was good to talk to her, to reminisce and catch up on the gossip, and then to let her go and carry on about her day. It gave him a lot to think about as he messaged Dorothy to see if she was free.

After a bit of back and forth, they managed to schedule time to talk, and then he stood up and wandered through the various small pools, moving carefully so that he didn't end up wet and end up needing to leave sooner than they wanted.

It was good to see Wufei looking unguarded and comfortable. He clearly had an interest and knowledge in history and archaeology, the most unexpected and pleasing thing, and he lit up when Treize came closer.

"Come look. There are maps that show how each pool is supposedly cursed. There's even a duck. How does a duck drown?"

"Exhaustion? Or ill fated sex?" He watched Wufei gesture to one of the pools on the document he had in hand. "Maybe it was trapped?"

"Ill-fated sex," Wufei decided. "As a concept, it's much more entertaining."

"Ducks are terrible." He looked up, blinking for a moment, and then grinned back at Wufei. "I probably know more about terrible duck sex than secondary genders. Noin had an obsession for a few months and if your comms officer can keep a running joke about duck fucking going..."

"I can't decide if I'm horrified or greatly pleased by this knowledge." Wufei was smiling back at him, eyes crinkled at the edges. "But I will certainly look at her a little differently if ever we meet again."

"The hidden depths of my former staff. I spoke with Une -- Dorothy will call later, probably when it's inconvenient, and I can ask her for a journalist recommendation." He wasn't prepared to be more specific in front of anyone else, never mind in front of the various people working at the dig.

"That sounds reasonably like her," Wufei agreed. "Would you like to go home now to wait? It's likely for the best, all things considered."

"If you're done for the day, we could." It was also very likely all for the best, but he wanted to go. It had been a weird day, though nice to sit outside. It was a shame that they'd only spent an hour or so there, but Wufei was willing to leave and that was all that mattered.

After speaking for a few moments with one of the archaeologists, Wufei took his hand and they both walked back through the small pools of the spring as easily as if there had never been any question of him going through them alone.

* * *

He wasn't at his best in the morning.

Wufei never had been. He was clearly not a morning person. There was a reason he'd committed so many attacks at 0200 hours.

Being a father had changed all of that. The faintest sound of a whimper or a whine had him up and going to check on their daughter. It was ridiculous, he supposed, but there it was.

He didn't know what sounds a baby made. He didn't know what was a good sound or a bad sound, and they had ended up not going with a nanny option because Treize had proven to be ridiculously protective of their daughter after she was born, more than either of them had expected.

Wufei had honestly expected to be the one who felt that way. He supposed that having a child changed everyone, either for the better or the worse, but it was nice to know which of those they both were.

He wouldn't go so far as to say Treize had a warm maternal instinct, because he thought it might get him nipped in his sleep, but doting, yes. It was better than Treize had anticipated.

She was so sweet.

Reaching in, he gathered her up and held her even as she fussed. Her little button nose made him smile. She had Treize's eyes and Wufei's hair, and she smelled so wonderful, soft and sweet and a little milky. "Hello, pretty girl. You can stop fretting now."

She let out a little cry, and flailed one hand so vigorously as he cradled her close that he was half sure she was going to take one of his eyes out with her tiny nail. She mostly slept at night, now, after those disastrous first few months.

"Come on, sweetheart." She was clearly wet, and so he settled her on the changing table and efficiently cleaned her and got everything dry. That seemed to settle her somewhat, but she was also making noises that implied she was hungry, so he picked her up and wandered into the kitchen. It took a few minutes to pull together the formula and heat it up while she fussed, mostly because doing it one handed was always more difficult.

Setting her on one of the counters was an invitation for her to flail and roll, so one handed prep it was. Treize was asleep, had been curled up behind him when he'd gotten out of bed. Sometimes it was just nice to have a little late night one on one time with his daughter when the world was dark and quiet.

When he slipped the nipple between her lips, she latched onto it, holding the bottle tightly, and he roamed back toward the nursery and the rocker they kept there. Mari didn't let go of the bottle, and she was good at that, the death grip that she kept on anything when it was in her mouth. They'd learned early on that she would put everything imaginable into her mouth and that getting her to let go was difficult and had baby proofed again after she found one of Treize's data pads and had gnawed on it far longer than either of them wanted to consider. It wasn't as if it would've killed her, but she would probably start teething soon and that was going to be problematic. Tiny teeth and hard objects just seemed a terrible thing to consider. 

He settled into the rocker and let her feed with that desperate sort of interest only babies could manage. She was very sweet, and interested in the world around her. Wufei didn't doubt that she would be terrifyingly bright and trouble waiting to happen -- strictly from Treize, he was sure, and there was no stopping his smile or the way he petted her dark hair, soft and silky. It was just baby fluff, and she was fussy, turned her head, squirming and enjoying her early morning snack. There was so much potential, so much she could do in the life in front of her, but mostly he hoped she was happy. That she would enjoy all sorts of things. That she could be as happy as he was, and that she had a good life. That she never had to worry about war, and that she would lead a life filled with peace and kindness. That was what they all wanted -- for the wars that had dragged on to continue in these wonderful lapses of peace in the world. She finished most of it before she turned her head away. He had been brought up by a loving family; he wanted to give her that same sort of support and presence. 

There was a notepad beside the rocker. Treize had been doodling designs again, and left them there. Wufei flipped a page before he reached past to grab a burp cloth before he brought Mariemaia to his shoulder and began to gently rub and pat at her back.

She gurgled and after a moment did burp. It was a coin toss sort of miracle when he didn't end up with spit-up on him, but she gurgled only lightly, waving one arm, and he settled in to rock her back to sleep, humming an old lullaby that he vaguely remembered his mother singing to him. He wasn't sure he had all the words right, but it was mostly in tune. She liked being sung to, liked voices. She had recognized his voice immediately after she'd been born because he had talked to her every day once Treize had become more comfortable with being pregnant. He'd read to her, even, hadn't been able to help himself, and when those eyes had turned sharply upon him, he'd melted. 

She had recognized him, really recognized the sound. She knew who he was.

He heard a creak in the doorway while he sang, Treize looking sleepy and muzzy and comfortable in sleep pants and a robe.

"She's almost asleep," he murmured, still petting her head gently.

"I love hearing you sing." He scrubbed a hand through his hair, ruffled and muzzy. "Almost a full bottle?"

Wufei hummed and nodded. "Do you want to hold her before I put her down?"

"Yes." It was always a challenge to pass along a sleeping baby, but they had gotten the hang of it. There was something about the way Treize's expression softened when he cradled Mari that made Wufei's heart squeeze in his chest.

They passed her carefully, and Wufei rose to give Treize his seat, reaching for the pad to get a better look at whatever Treize was designing by the window, the full moon spilling in through firmly curtains.

It looked like some kind of advanced printer, and there were cutaways and then details on nanites. It was rather sketchy and interesting, not a weapon. He wondered what it was, but asking could wait until they were properly awake and not watching their child sleep. It was good, though, that Treize's brain was wandering off and he was thinking of projects and engineering. He had a workshop, and he'd done a little cleaning of it with Mari strapped to his chest, but he hadn't worked out what to do when everything he'd ever designed had been a mech. 

The world didn't need more of those. Mari didn't need those, and she was so lovely when she slept. Treize was nearly radiating contentment as he slowly rocked her. "Bed was cold without you."

"Mmmhmmm." Wufei walked back to the rocking chair and put the notepad down on the table, leaning in to kiss Treize's forehead. "Life is cold without you. Let's live forever."

He turned his head and leaned forward to kiss Wufei's neck. Then he started to stand up. "I'm still taking it one week at a time. But it's very warm with you. And Mari is lucky to have you."

"We're lucky to have one another." All of them. He hadn't expected to come out of a war with a mated Omega and a child. He hadn't expected to have any kind of happiness. He'd just wanted his sword back, and perhaps another chance at a duel. That was all, not the grand weird unexpected outcome he had gotten. A second chance at a home and a family.

"Yes."

Yes, and when Treize finally rose, it was to put Mariemaia into her bassinet and set it rocking so gently that it barely moved. Just enough to keep her resting, because she loved the rocking. Treize reached out and wrapped arms around Wufei, pressing his head against Wufei's. Sometimes he was funny at night, always so soft and fond when it came to family.

"I love you, you know," he murmured, turning his head to the side, face lifted.

"Yes," Treize whispered, turning with him to nuzzle and then kiss his mouth. "I love you, too."

Such soft lips, and Wufei sighed, then tugged at him, pulling him back to their own bedroom where they settled down and slowly dozed off together.


End file.
